Tag: TLVW

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A change is coming!

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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!!

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Auld Lang Syne!

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 THIS WEEKS STORY LINES:

1.   ROBBY GORDON REMAINS IN 3RD @ DAKAR RALL(nascar.com)

2.   2009 BUD SHOOTOUT FORMAT CHANGES:(2009 Bud Shootout)

3.   KESELOWSKI TO RACE SEVEN CUP RACES:(HMS PR)

4.   RUETIMANN TO RUN FULL CUP SEASON:(scene daily)

5.   TESTING AT MANY NON NASCAR SANCTIONED TRACKS:(speedtv)

6.   TIM MCCREADIE INJURED @ CHILI BOWL:(chili bowl.com)

7.   VERIZON BUYS ALLTEL:(AP)

8.   GILLILAND POSSIBLY OUT AT YATES:(scenedaily)

9.   MAX SIEGEL LEAVES DEI:(espn.com)

10.  MIKE SKINNER LOOKING FOR A RIDE(daytona beach news journal)

11.  REGAN SMITH IN #78 FURNITURE ROW CHEVY:(KUSA9NEWS)

12.  YATES AND HALL OF FAME RACING PARTNER UP:(sports business journal)

13.  BOBBY LABAONTE IN THE #96 HOF FORD:(nascar.com)

 

It oftens seems that even before one NASCAR season ends, the teams are already looking forward to the next season.  That is especially true for the non Chasers!!  Fortunately, thanks to one of the shortest off-seasons in professional sports, the wait is just about over ( 29 days,15 hours and 10 minutes from this writing)!!

 

 

You know that song you hear every New Year’s Eve?  You know that one about not forgetting old acquaintences?  Did you ever wonder what that phrase is in the chorus?

 

 

The most common song for most English-speaking people to sing at New Year’s Eve is the old Scottish song “Auld Lang Syne”.  Isn’t it a little bit odd how we sing that song and have no idea just what it means.  Would it be funny if it meant “Old Slow Buick Roadmasters” or something like that????  Actually, a good translation of that phase “auld lang syne” is “times gone by”.  So when we sing this song, we are saying, “We will drink a cup of kindness yet, for times gone by”

 

 

That might be true for the fans of the 2008 Champion.  As for the rest of us, our cups are brimming over with something else!!!!   It is extremely true for this reporter, last year was good but this year will be great!  A new year brings in all the hope and excitement, much like a child opening presents on Christmas morning.  This year is by far no exception.  There are more changes in the garage area than husbands on Elizabeth Taylor’s and Zsa Zsa Gabor’s resume!!!  There are drivers that are changing teams, crew chiefs changing teams, mergers of teams, emerging new teams, sponsors changing teams, and some established teams running a limited schedule.  Many of the teams are still searching and scrambling for that ever elusive sponsorship dollar!  The global recession has had a huge impact on the NASCAR community this off season.

 

 

Most of us don’t want to reminisce about the blown tire, Kyle Busch (aka The Las Vegas Weasel) crashing our favorite driver on the last laps of the race, or a bad pit stop.  Did I mention that we really didn’t want to waste time reflecting on TLVW crashing our favorite driver( read #88 JR) at Richmond and winning the race???????  All those memories are now relegated to the book called HISTORY!  History books are good to read, but the only books that I am intersted in reading regarding NASCAR focus on the future and this season!!!  The only Eve that I am now interested in is February 14, the night before the Daytona 500!!  I have an appointment with the Sprint Cup Tower row 48 seat 6 for the Dual 150’s, Trucks race, Nationwide race and the Daytona 500!!!

 

COMMENTARY:

 

 

As you can see in the story lines listed above, there are tumultuous activities going on in the garage area.  I strongly suggest that you click on to each of the links above and read those articles.  They are a good resource to what is happening this week in NASCAR! There are drivers with new teams, sponsors with new teams, merged operations, and a couple of new race teams all together!!  So get out your scorecard and sharpen up you memory skills, cause I can hear those V8’s starting to get warmed up!! 

This reporter’s New Year’s resolutions:

1. I resolve to be in front of the TV when the green drops each Sunday!

2. I resolve to solidly root for #88 each week and defend him against all detractors, foreign and domestic!

3.  I ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NEVER EVER FORGET TIMES GONE BY!!!!

 

Now if you will go back and look at the picture of the Daytona Speedway above.  Notice the black square of seats just on the upper tight side of the Palm tree.   If you squint your eyes you will see this reporter sitting there waiting for the drop of the green flag for the Daytona 500!!!

 

REMEMBER, I LOOKED IT UP SO THAT YOU WOULDN’T HAVE TO!!!

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One To Go At The Line!

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THIS WEEEK’S STORY LINES:

1.   AIR FORCE LEAVES WOOD BROS. FOR GEM #10: (jayski.com)

2.   DEI-GANASSI MERGE OPERATIONS:(espn.com) (gannassiracing)(AP)

3.   BB&T SPONSOR #33 RCR CHEVY IN ’09: ( RCR pr)

4.   RED BULL TEAMS SWAP DRIVERS FOR LAST RACE: (redbullracing pr)

5.   BRIAN FRANCE’S TAKE ON SWITCH TO ESPN2 FOR FINAL MINS. OF PHX RACE: (jayski)

6.   KESELOWSKI TO RACE @ HOMESTEAD

7.   AAA SPONSORS HORNISH IN ’09: (penske racing pr)

8.   FURNITURE ROW RACING RUNS A LIMITED SCHEDULE IN ’09:(furniturerowracing)

No I haven’t completely gone off the deep end!  There really is a corelation between the NYC Naked Cowboy and NASCAR.  How can that be, you say??  Well folks, take a closer look at that picture.  He is standing all alone on the island in the middle of Times Square in New York City for everyone to see!!  He is unique and has no peers!  He is vunerable yet he journeys on with total disregard to personal security!!!  That, my friends, is just exactly what the new NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion is!!  He is unique, has no peers, extremely vunerable, yet he sojourns on with total disregard for his own personal safety!  And in December, he will in fact be on a stage for all to see at the NASCAR Banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria!!!

 

It is very obvious that the last man standing for this year’s Chase will be Jimmie Johnson.  He has but one race left before he marches into NASCAR history. All the #48 Lowes Chevy has to do is finish 35th or better and he has the 2008 Championship lock, stock, and barrell!!  In the 60 years of NASCAR racing there has been only one individual to win three consecutive championships in a row, that being “the Timmonsville, S.C. Tornado”, William Caleb (Cale) Yarborough.  That feat was accompolished in the period of 1976-1978 with the car owner and crew chief, Junior Johnson!

 

 

 

COMMENTARY

 

This reporter has been following many forms of racing, Indy Car, NHRA, local short tracks dirt and paved, as well as NASCAR for more than 45 years.  What the entire #48 Lowes HMS Chevy team is about to accompolish is of historic proportions!  It is a dynasty pure and simple, similar to the NY Yankees in baseball.  You might remember those days with “the Mick” Mickey Mantle (my boyhood hero), Yogi Bera, Whitey Ford, Elston Howard,”Moose” Skowron, Roger Maris, and Bobby Richardson.  The Boston Celtics with “Big” Bill Russell, Bob Cousey, K.C. Jones, and Sam Jones were equally a huge dynasty in the NBA.  These two sports franchises stand head and shoulders above all the rest in “stick and ball” sports!!  They are what legends are made from!  So observe this weekends event, soak this up, because it may not come our way again for another 30 years!!!

 

The one thing that we, as fans, learned this season was a reinteration of the old story of “The Hare and The Tortise”  Just because somebody starts off the season fast and dominates for 2/3’s of the season, doesn’t necessarily mean that they are going be there in the end!!!  Ol Kyle Busch started off “smokin”hot”, but completely fell apart in the Chase!  It was bound to happen, a team just absolutely cannot dominate all 36 races in the season, PERIOD!!!  Somewhere, someplace, somehow, mistakes and bad luck will come to haunt you!!  It happened just as the Chase started for the #18 M&M’s JGR Toyota this year.  Will ol Kylie, aka TLVW, be a factor next season, you better bet on it!  That team will be better next year than they were this year, if for no other reason than “SPERIENCE”(a DWism for experience)!!!

 

This off season will be a time of great turmoil and upheaval in the garage.  It started this week with the announcement of the DEI-Ganassi “merger”.  The sponsorhip dollars are tight and the teams are feeling the pinch.  There are still rumblings in the garage of Petty and GEM looking to merge.  There are even Penske merger rumors!!!   The possibilites are truely endless!!!!

 

GOD SPEED, JIMMIE JOHNSON!

 

Stay tuned, ’cause God knows it is going to get interesting!!!!

 

 

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T is for………

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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.

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Got Something For Johnson??

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THE STORY LINES:

 

1.   JOHNSON WINS AGAIN!

2.   QUALIFYING RAINED OUT FOR 9TH TIME:

3.   HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS DOMINATES @ MARTINSVILLE:

4.   DEI AND PETTY ENTERPRISES MERGER? ( espn.com) (nascar.com)

5.   PETTY RESURRECTS #44:  (espn.com)

6.   JEFF GORDON CLOSING IN ON 20,000 LAPS LED:

7.   ROCKINGHAM RACEWAY BUILDS A “LITTLE ROCK” ON PREMISES:

8.   AMBROSE IN #47 (WAS #44 MWR) REST OF YEAR:(MWR PR)

Well folks, it happened again!  The #48 Lowes Chevy dominated the race.  Jimmie Johnson led over 330 laps of the 500 lap race, a true sign of domination.  The Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) Chevys all had a good day at the track.  Just to let you know how the HMS teams have done over the years at Martinsville, here are some facts.  Prior to Sunday, HMS  had posted 11 victories and 78 top 10’s there!!  Now make that 12 victories and 82 top 10’s!!  They have completed over 96% of all laps entered.  Jeff Gordon has posted 7 victories there alone!   They have now won 9 out of the last 12 races at Martinsville!!  HMS now have a total of 174 wins and 7 Sprint Cup Championships in NASCAR!!!!  These numbers are staggering!

 

The merger rumors are running rampant in the garage area this week.  There are talks rumored between Petty and DEI.  There are rumors of talks between Petty and Ganassi.  There are rumors that Gilette-Evernham (GEM) are leaving Dodge and heading to Toyota.  It is truely “The Silly Season”!!!  IT APPEARS THAT NOT ONLY IS “JOE THE PLUMBER” HAVING TOUGH FINANCIAL TIMES, THE CUP TEAMS ARE EQUALLY FINDING THE TIME A ROUGH GO!!!!  There appears to be  a changing of ownership coming to the garage area.  Financial partners and mergers seems to be the key to suviorship here in NASCAR!

 

COMMENTARY:

Remember the first 26 races of this season???????   Ol Kylie Busch, aka TLVW, was truly dominating the entire field each and every Sunday.  What happened??????    Everyone was singing the praises of TLVW, how he was running away with the championship lead!  Well, did everyone forget how the #48 Lowes Chevy came from the cellar last year to put the BIG WHOOP on the other 11 contenders in the Chase??????  DON’T LOOK NOW, BUT HE IS ABOUT DO REPEAT THAT SAME FEAT THIS YEAR!!!!!!! 

This reporter was one of the naysayers this year.  I repeatedly said that the #48 Lowes Chevy team could not possibly win 3 championships in a row!  After all, it had only happened once in the history of NASCAR, so that by itself shows the difficulty of that feat.  By the way, that one feat was accompolished by one William Caleb (Cale) Yorborough from 1976-1978.  But don’t look now, it is about to happen again!!!!  

 SO THE ANSWER TO THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG WOULD BE A RESOUNDING NO!!!!! 

ONCE AGAIN I LOOKED IT UP SO THAT YOU WOULDN’T HAVE TO!!!!!

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The Chase Begins

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THIS WEEKS STORY LINES:

 

1.  JIMMIE JOHNSON  WINS AT RICHMOND: ( jayski Richmond results)

2.  JOEY LOGANO MAKES SECOND ATTEMP AT CUP DEBUT: ( nascar.com)

3.  GILLETTE-EVERNHAM SUES ROBBY GORDON: ( Winston-Salem Journal)

4.  SCOTT SPEED TESTING WITH RED BULL RACING:( www.jayski.com )

5.  RED BULL RACING POSSIBLY WITH 3 TEAMS: ( espn.tv )

6.  JAY FREYE STILL IN LIMBO: ( espn.tv )

7.  DODGE NOT TO SUPPORT THE TRUCK SERIES: ( www.jayski.com )

8.  NATIONWIDE SERIES TESTS COT AT RICHMOND: ( Scenedaily.com )

 

The first 26 races have been ran and the contenders for the Chase are set in stone!!!  The scores have been adjusted for the winning bonus points and the REAL race is about to begin!!  From the outside looking in, one might view this championship as a three horse race between TLVW, aka Kylie Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Cousin Carl, aka Carl Edwards.  But don’t be fooled, my friends, there are TWELVE capable teams that can take this championship home!! 

 

There was much hype and anticipation before the season started about the Henrick Motorsports Dale Jr. #88 AMP/NATIONAL GUARD/MOUNTAIN DEW team!  They quickly came out of the box and won the first two races at Speedweeks in Daytona.  They were very consistant in their finishes through the first 20 races.  Although they only won one race, they were a top 5 team and every week.  However since that win at Michigan, the #88 team has experienced some bad finishes resulting from some bad decisions.  Does the #88 team have what it takes to wrestle the top spot away and take the trophy home after Homestead????

 

The Joe Gibbs Home Depot #20 is lurking back in eighth place and has had a VERY sub-par year!!  They have yet to post a victory this season!  That team was a dominating team in the very early part of the season leading lots of laps, but couldn’t close the deal and bring a win home.  Has the magic vanished with Zippy and THE SMOKER, aka Tony Stewart?????  Can they gather it up and “win one for the Gipper”?????

 

What about the #24 Dupont Chevy????  They too have fallen on hard times!!!  They have not been to the winners circle in 2008.  Does La Tarte and Gordon have anything for the three horse team at the top?? 

 

Well these and many more questions are about to be answered in the next ten races, my friends!!  This is where the contenders separate themselves from the pretenders!!  This is where you see the talent and desire come together to lead them to their goal…………The Sprint Cup Trophy!!!!  

COMMENTARY:

As the picture above shows, the sun is starting to set in the West.  It is time to dig down deep and see if you got anything for the leaders!  The  twelve race teams in the Chase have got to go to the front NOW, if they can!!!  After twenty- six weeks of the week in and week out grind of BIG TIME RACIN’, this is where we see which team has what it takes to get it done!!  Will the Joe Gibbs #18 Toyota prevail?  Can the #48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy continue to add to their momentum?  Can the #99 Office Depot Ford continue in their winning ways?  Or will a spoiler like the #88 AMP/National Guard/ Mountain Dew Chevy driven by JR be the Sprint Cup Champion??  Could a really long shot get hot and steal the championship away from the favorites??? 

 These questions and many more are about to be answered in the next ten weeks!!

So pull those belts tight, make sure that the steering wheel is on straight, getcha four fresh Goodyears, a full tank of that Sunoco fuel, step on the loud pedal, let the big dawg eat, AND LET’S GO RACIN’ BOYS!!!!
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

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And Then There Was One!

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STORY LINES FOR THIS WEEK:

1.  JOHNSON DOMINATES AT CALIFORNIA:

2.  WIN TOTALS; BUSCH-6, EDWARDS-6, JOHNSON-3:

3.  STREMME TO THE #12 PENSKE DODGE:

4. FRANCHITTI TO GANASSI IRL #10 TARGET TEAM:

5.  NASCAR NEW DRUG TESTING POLICY:

6.  UPS TO MOVE OVER TO #6 ROUSCH/FENWAY FORD:

7.  Jay Freye offered VP/Gen Mgr with Stewart-Haas Racing

8.  Richmond Entry List:    

 

IT IS CRUNCH TIME!!! 

 

It is one to go and the race teams that are on the bubble are REALLY feeling the presure to solidify their positions in the Chase.  One of the teams that is serving notice is the #48 Lowes team.  Jimmie Johnson and team thoroughly dominated the entire race at The Auto Club Speedway of Southern California, previously known as The California Speedway.  It appears that after Indy, they are hitting on all eight cylinders.  Johnson has been in the top five in almost every race since then, with the exception of one race that is.  Also the #99 Office Depot team is finding their stride once again like they did in the beginning of the season.  The runaway that the ol Las Vegas Wasel, commonly referred to as TLVW,  had going in the middle of the season has turned into a possible three horse race.  Although TLVW has had an unbelievable year in all three divisions of NASCAR, he has some serious competition just in time for the Chase.  For a while it looked like a foregone conclusion that TLVW would run away and hide with the championship, but both the #48 and #99 teams have come to life!!  That should make for some great racing, and good TV ratings I might add, for the Chase!  This reporter hopes that the championship is decided on the last lap at Homestead as it was with the very first season of the Chase.  That makes for great journalism and fantastic TV viewing!!!

 

There are a couple of sleeping giants that need to really have a great race at Richmond this Saturday night to secure their  place in the Chase.  Positons 6-14 in the NASCAR standings are still extremely tight and their finish at Richmond will either put them in or eliminate them from the Chase.  David Ragan, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, and Kevin Harvick come to mind as teams that have to race the wheels off of their respective hot rods to get in the BIG SHOW!!!  Can we say PRESSURE?  The Rock and Roll 4oo @ Richmond International Raceway this Saturday night ought to be one whale of a show with may storylines unfolding. 

 

Richmond is short track on steroids!  It has all excitement of a short track race with high speed dessert!!  There is bumping and banging along side with side-by-side racing.    There is a special area there for the drivers to leave their  feelings and their anger before they get into the pitts!!!  But make no mistake, there will be drivers with their feelings hurt and their tempers a flaring when they leave the track Saturday night!!!That is exactly why it is a true fan delight and there won’t be an empty seat at the Henrico County Fairgrounds!!!   

 

A most news worthy items came of NASCAR out this week.  NASCAR is going to finally change their drug testing policy!!  It is about time that they came to the 21st century!  Especially inlght of Tyler Walker’s confession of SHOOTING UP HEROIN  before a few races in the truck series last year!!!  NASCAR CAN NOT HAVE THAT BEHAVIOR IN A SPORT  WHERE A MISTAKE CAN KILL YOU AS WELL AS THOSE AROUND YOU!!!!! 

 

Some of you folks are possibly trying to corelate the picture I have chosen to NASCAR and the race at California Sunday.  Well, the picture is of Times Square in NYC and the banquet at the end of the season is at The Waldorf-Astoria in NYC.  Only the top twelve will see these sights, since they are the only invitees to the banquet.  So you see, it is evey Cup driver’s desire to see the sights of NYC in December!!!

 

Unfortunately I will be “in the unfriendly skies” flying to Seattle Saturday evening, so I will miss the race live.  Thank God for DVR’s!!!!!!

 

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The Glen

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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!!!!