Tag: Army

Posted on

Lowe’s Results

Img2713

 

THE STORY LINES:

1.  JEFF BURTON WINS @ LOWE’S:

2.  ONLY NIGHT RACE IN THE CHASE:

3.  PICTURES OF HARVICK AND EDWARDS:( captainthunderracing)

4.  GM AND CHRYSLER DISCUSS MERGER: (NY Times)

5.  PETTY AND GANASSI MERGER? GEM TO TOYOTA? (winston-salem journal)

6.  ARMY IS OFFICIALLY # 39 SPONSOR: (jayski team scheme)

7.  CHASE STANDINGS: (nascar.com)

For about half of the teams Saturday night, the Sun has set on their chances of winning the Sprint Cup championship for 2008!!!  It would appear at this juncture of the Chase that it is down to quite possibly four teams only.  Quite honestly, it is Jimmie Johnson’s championship to loose.  Jeff Burton has really been performing quite well during the first half fof the Chase.  He has been flying under the radar very nicely so far.  But, his win at Lowe’s Motor Speedway Saturday night has jumped him up into second place in Chase standings!!!  Burton must now be considered one of the remaining favorites.  “Cousin Carl” has hit upon some hard times in the last two races.  His adventures at Talladega not only landed his team a poor finish, but apparently he got to “visit the hood of the #33 KHI Nationwide car”!!!  (Check out the link in the #4 of story lines!!)  Meanwhile, “The Bif” is still performing at a very steady pace.

COMMENTARY:

This reporter still has “MAJOR HEARTBURN” with the way NASCAR handled the finish of the Talladega race!!  The rule states,” you can not advance your postion by going below the yellow line or you will be penalized”( RULE #1).”  It also states,”you can not force someone below the yellow line or you might be penalized“(RULE #2).  It also states that if you can see the CHECKERED FLAG WAVING the rules do not apply (RULE # 3). 

First and foremost, if what Tony Stewart did does not constitute forcing a competitor below the yellow  line then I don’t know what does!!  There is no arguing the fact that Regan Smith was below the yellow line, ‘ cause  both of Stewart’s left side tires were down below the yellow line and Regan Smith had a fender on Stewart’s left quarter panel (RULE #1)!!!!  So this reporter’s point is that if you are going to penalized Smith for passsing below the yellow line, you must also penalize Stewart for forcing him down there ( RULE #2)!!!!  If you are going to apply the first two rules, you must apply them fairly and consistently.  With those thoughts in mind, it would appear to this reporter that Paul Menard should be declared the winner!!!  Now if you are going to not penalize Stewart for driving below the yellow line and thusly forcing Smith below the yellow line because they can see the “CHECKERED FLAG WAVING”(RULE #3), THEN OBVIOUSLY REGAN SMITH WINS THE RACE!!!

Therein lies the crux of this reporter’s heartburn!!!!  Thank God I have an abundant supply of Prilosec in the medicine cabinet!!!  I also have a large tube of, you guessed it, “BOUDREAUX’S BUTT PASTE”!!

Posted on

The Winds of Fate

Race cars 004 

THE STORY LINES:

1.   JIMMIE JOHNSON WINS @ KANSAS:

2.   WALTRIP COULD ADD AMBROSE? (SceneDaily.com)

3.   ALMENDINGER IS OUT OF #84 NEXT WEEK: (NASCAR.com)

4.   STANTON BARRETT TO IRL: (SceneDaily.com)

5.   MIKE WALLACE TO DRIVE #33 FOR RCR @ TALLADEGA: (RCR PR)

6.   PAUL NEWMAN PASSES AWAY: (ABC News)

7.   PAUL MENARD MOVES TO YATES RACING: (AP)

8.   KYLE PETTY OUT OF #45? (Winston-Salem Journal)

9.   DEI STRUGGLING TO FIND SPONSORSHIP:

10.  ARMY MOVES TO #39 STEWART-HAAS CHEVY: (captainthunderracing.com)

“The three horse race” just distanced themselves a little further from the pack Sunday.  It appears the Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, and Greg Bifle teams are turning up the heat on the rest of the “Chasers”!!  Sunday they all, in their own way, showed dominance during the Kansas race.  It was an extremely exciting final three laps!!  With Johnson leading the race, Edwards made up about ten car lengths down the back stretch of the last lap.  Going into turn three Edwards drove it so deep and blew by Johnson by approximately 3 car lengths, but couldn’t keep his Ford off the outside retaining wall.  Edwards just hit it hard enough to slow his momentum and Johnson went back by him as they exited turn 4 heading to the finish line!!!  What a finish to the race!!!!

 

Several driver changes were announced or hinted.  A. J. Almendinger has been released from the #84 Red Bull Racing Toyota.  The team announced that Mike Skinner and Scott Speed will share ther ride for the rest of 2008.  Next year Scott Speed, the former Formula 1 and possibly new ARCA champ, will be the new pilot of that ride.  Paul Menard will take his Daddy’s money, Menard’s Home Improvement Stores, and leave DEI for Yates Racing.  Speaking of DEI, the Army sponsorship is leaving and moving over to the #39 Stewart-Haas Racing Ryan Newman Chevy.  That leaves DEI in a quandry over sponsorship money!!!  The #8 and #15  have no sponsorhip money, likewise the #01 has only a 12 race deal.  There is likely a change of driver for the #45 Petty Dodge.  It appears that there is a power stuggle going on in that organization!  VP of Operations, Robby Loomis, is intimating that Kyle Petty has driven his last race in the #45 Petty Dodge.  However, Kyle doesn’t seem to be going along with that decision!!  Lastly, there is a rumor flowing through the garage that Michael Waltrip Racing may be interested in adding Marcos Ambrose and his sponsor Little Debbie’s to his stable.

 

In conclusion, this reporter would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the passing of Paul Newman.  Not only was Paul Newman an extrordinary actor, father, husband, entrepenuer, and philanthropist; he was an excellent race car driver in his own right and CART/IRL car owner.  To this reporter, there were several characters he portrayed that were memorable!  Newman played the title character in “Cool Hand Luke” and the phrase that resonates in my mind is “what we have here is a failure to communicate“!!!!!  His role in “The Hustler” and reprised again in “The Color of Money” were classic!!  Lastly his two pictures with Robert Redford, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, were classic Paul Newman!!!!Newman started the company, Newman’s Own, giving all the profits to charity!!! 

 

He was intrumental in starting “The Hole In The Wall Gang”, a non-profit camp for terminally ill children.  He gave to charity tens of millions of dollars in his latter years!  The Hole In Wall Gang idea was influential to Kyle and Patti Petty in forming THE VICTORY JUNCTION GANG CAMP.

Go rest high on that mountain, Paul Newman, your work here on earth in done!!