I was reading the comments of Mr. Tim Tuttle and I have to say I agree. NASCAR must protect drivers and pit crews from other drivers that think their cars are an extension of their fists. The consequence of not doing so are too severe to imagine.

In my opinion, there is no reason why Kurt Busch was not suspended when he nearly hit Tony Stewarts jackman Jason Lee.

“There was almost hitting a guy on pit road versus actual,” Busch said. “That’s still what needs to be separated here.”

That is one of the more inane explanations I have ever heard. It’s on par with Paris Hilton’s, ‘My people didn’t tell me I couldn’t drive’ when she explained why she was driving on a suspended license. The potential is more than enough reason.

Ted Musgrave and the Craftsman Truck Series may have been used as example, but I think it’s time to stop with example and start making actions. There should be no maybes or silly excuses. Paris Hilton isn’t on the track professionals are, and they need to act like it.

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I just ran into something that reminded me of a scene in the first Ocean’s Eleven movie. You may recall it, the scene where the Malloy twins from Utah are introduced. One brother is in a Monster truck, the other using a radio controlled truck, and they race down the track. It was a cute scene. Well in Ohio, the idea has been taken one step further.

RC racing has taken on new meaning with the Proseries state championship. Races have expanded from Columbus to include Marietta, and the promoters Full Throttle RC Club are hoping to expand next year. A $4,000 track was already created for this new sport in November 2006. And the most recent race included 98 racers.

Think about it. Here is your chance to be a monster truck racer for a fraction of the cost. You can drive Gravedigger to victory, and be the champion in you local area. Tell me that doesn’t have an appeal.

Do I think this will take off? Definitely. Keep an eye out and start practicing with your kids. Who knows, it could be your son, daughter, wife or husband that wins the cup. I have a spot in my home for a trophy. Do you?

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Well the comments are running the gambit now. As would be expected there are many responses to the penalties that have been placed on Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, and their teams. Some find the penalties too harsh, some think it was not enough. Others are waiting to see what will happen next.

NASCAR itself has thrown down a gauntlet,

“We believe the penalties that we did issue are adequate enough to deliver that message. If, going forward, we find more and more violations and they become more frequent, then we will upscale the penalties until we get the result we’re looking for.”

Given this statement you might think that there will be no further modifications to the Car of Tomorrow. But realistically you know there will be. Maybe not to certain ‘off-limit’ areas, but modifications are the name of the game.

There will be more violations in races to come. The tweaking will get more refined. And eventually a balance will be hit. But you can’t say this isn’t getting the fans involved.

Point shifts, missing crew chiefs, and a promise to do even worse in the future. Few fans can sit on the sidelines and not be concerned for their team and driver. But maybe that’s exactly what NASCAR officials want. What do you think?

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Over the years Canada has given the United States hockey, Labor Day, and Michael J. Fox, among other things. The relationship has been very strong with our northern neighbor. Now there may be a new import, straight out of NASCAR.

On the Canadian NASCAR circuit a new sponsor has joined Whitlock Motor Sports, and driver Pierre Bourque. It’s none other than the Tory political party. It’s a move that is drawing criticism and attention in all directions.

In Canada, NASCAR is loved by 24% of the population, not nearly the growth that it enjoys in America. Still fans of the sport are conservative and liberal alike. If this works and draws significant attention to the party, can you doubt it will hit America too.

Imagine that if you will. The Republican car, or the Barak Obama car. Now those would be different. I think it would definitely catch attention. Especially if the driver was a winning one. Though I don’t think I’d like to see the Hillary Clinton car taking a victory lap ever.

So what do you think? What party should sponsor a car, if any? Whose name would you like to see taking laps?

“If you ain‘t cheatin‘, you ain‘t tryin.”

Every NASCAR fan has probably heard of this quote. It refers to the cheating that occurs. Sometimes it’s unintentional, but more often it’s an attempt to get an edge. Everyone does it, the well used saying seems to imply. And NASCAR officials want everyone to pay.

The latest attempt to curtail the cheating in NASCAR has come in the form of the Car of Tomorrow. Officials have stated directly that no changes can be made to this, and have a memo with explicit details on penalties out to all teams. But does that really matter?

It’s been seen that point penalties can be overcome, the cost of fines are meaningless, and pit bosses absence immaterial. Nothing being done at this time is a reason not to go after the bigger edge that an illegal tweak here or there provides.

Jenna Fryer makes a great argument that there is one solution. Take the drivers out of the race. It’s that simple. Fans will hate not seeing their favorite driver in the race. They will be livid when they find out it was due to a cheating penalty. Teams will not be able to afford losing fans because their driver can’t drive. The change would sweep every team quickly. It’s a penalty that can’t be adjusted to.

NASCAR officials need to read this article by Ms. Fryer. Fans do as well. Nothing is better than a good race, and that only can happen in a fair one. Rather than everyone competing to see who can cheat better, let’s see who can drive best.

When Tiger Woods first became a professional golfer, he was humble, respectful, and took the golfing community by storm. He was the young upstart that shook the whole sport of golf in his debut. He’s never turned to look back.

Now there is another young professional that is taking his sport by storm. Much like how Tiger put golf on the map for millions of Americans that had never noticed it before, an overseas driver is working on creating millions of fans In America and across the world. I’ve spoken about him before, and if you follow Formula One racing you know who I’m talking about. Lewis Hamilton.

He’s already taken the Canadian and American Grand Prix, and with the upcoming British Grand Prix on the horizon, Britons are reflecting the interest that is going where the young driver goes. But the part I like is the message he is giving back to fans.

“When I was just 10 and I’d won my first British championship (in karting), I remember going up to drivers for their autograph, but they never looked at me when they signed,” recalled Hamilton. They just brushed past me. So I said that if I ever got to Formula One I’d always look at the kid, or whoever it might be, I’d be signing an autograph for.”

He went on to say

“Never to give up - under any circumstances,” insisted Hamilton. But it doesn’t have to be in racing. It can be in anything. When the going gets tough, keep on pushing. That’s what I’m like.”

If that hasn’t inspired you to follow what he is doing, what more do you need?

OK, I saw the title of this post at kenny-ng.blogspot.com and I had to read it. It’s just too catchy. I mean a post like “Fastest car in the world” kind of catches the eye.

I was wondering as I started to read the post what it might be. Mind you the focus is on street cars, so several options went out right there. So what might you think would be the winner. Formula One? Dragster? Dome? Ferrari? Porsche? NASCAR? (Jet cars don’t count, remember it’s a street car)

Well if you are unsure, the answer will get you. I bet 98% of people will get it wrong. I will give you one clue…Asia. Let me know if anyone gets it right.

When you think of Formula One drivers you tend to think of great skill and high speeds. It’s no small thing to whip the car around the track without incident at the speeds they reach. It’s also why the cars don’t fare well when an accident does happen.

On the other hand you would not expect go-kart racing to be too difficult. The speeds are lower and you would expect the handling to be much easier. Comparatively you might expect that give the levels of difficultly if you took a Formula One race driver and put him in a go-kart, everything would be alright. That’s what Lewis Hamilton thought as well, I’m sure.

But Mr. Hamilton proved himself as human as the rest of us. He did wind up crashing a charity bought go-kart Thursday. While he has had no difficulty winning from the pole position in an American grand prix, it seems this was more challenging.

Who knew?

OK, this makes my blood boil. Being a thief is not an honorable profession, that is not questioned. Anyone who has suffered the personal invasion that is a robbery knows the pain that it invokes. Even worse than that is when such an action involves children.

I have no respect for someone stealing from a child. It’s vile. But when someone steals from a 13-year-old that has lymphocytic leukemia, it just goes over the top.

Some creep stole the entire NASCAR collection that Cody Copas had, which included pieces given to him By Jeff Gordon during a Make-A-Wish Foundation trip. There is some good news though. Several NASCAR fans and internet online forums have made donations to replace some of the items that were stolen. The Jeff Gordon Foundation is replacing items as well.

One man, Chris Bradley, an unemployed welder decided to give his entire collection. I think he has a lot of heart to do that. Obviously more than that of the thief.

Here is some great news. Four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Jeff Gordon and his wife Ingrid Vandebosch, welcomed a new addition yesterday. The news is that their daughter, Ella Sofia Gordon, was born on Wednesday in the morning.

Their daughter weighed in at a healthy 7 pounds 1 ounce, and the happy parents were looking forward to bringing her home. She is the first child for the couple.

From everyone here at Auto Racing Blog and the entire 1800blogger family wish the family congratulations on your new baby girl.

It’s not often you get to see a fight breaking out in NASCAR racing. I don’t mean some team on team thing, nor a hockey match. I mean the AT&T versus NEXTEL with NASCAR prizefight. The prize is $100 million and that is just the tip of it.

Whether you agree with NASCAR, who has an exclusive deal with NEXTEL, or AT&T, who owns Cingular, you can make an arguement. Exclusive is only that if you back it up. Cingular was allowed in though and the old Ma Bell has a right to put it’s name where it pays the bills. So far the courts are going with AT&T but with a room full of high-priced lawyers who knows what will happen.

The big question is will this affect Jeff Burton and Richard Childress Racing. What is more of a distraction than wondering if you have a sponsor and if you can race. Do you think it might throw off your game face if you had to wonder about this? I suppose only time will tell.

Nighttime racing just brings a little something extra to a race I think. NASCAR has proven that it works, and many other race formats already use it as well. But so far Formula One racing hasn’t gone there. But that may soon be changing.

On Thursday of last week, test runs were done to check the viability of Formula One nighttime racing. The test track? None other than Indianapolis Motor Speedway which hosted the U.S. Grand Prix. Mr. Bernd Maylander himself ran a few laps under a few different conditions while being taped.

Already in SouthEast Asia plans are taking shape to set up a nighttime series. This should be quite an event once the details are worked out.

Now here is a favorite. Over at ESPN SportsNation preparations are underway for the Nextel Cup race, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. While ESPN will be showing several programs featuring NASCAR races and drivers, SportsNation has gone a different route.

We get a chance to vote on 5 of the greatest races ever. I always enjoy polls of this nature and it will be interesting to see what makes it to the top of the list. I’m sure you have a favorite as well. Vote and then let’s compare. Then we can see what actually takes first place.

After the incredible crash last week at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Robert Kubica says he is ready for this weeks race.

Considering the terrible wreck that occured to hear that all he recieved was a concussion and a sprained ankle is amazing. The chief medical doctor has not cleared him for US Grand Prix in Indianapolis yet, and BMW Sauber says they will go with whatever they say.

Safety improvements have surely moved along over the years because a crash of last weeks nature surely could have been far worse in years past. We’ll see if they were enough to allow Kubica to get back into the action this week.

NASCAR fans in NYC should perk up, if the latest discussions about creating a Meadowlands race track come to fruition. While there have been on and off talks about a track in or around NYC since 1998 nothing has taken hold. The last big push was the Championship Auto Racing Teams Meadowlands Grand Prix that lasted from 1984 to 1991.

So in this new look at NJ the question is will it work? Will fans come often enough, and in numbers enough to make a profit or at least a break even? If you have ever been out by the Meadowlands you know that traffic there can be a mess. That is no benefit to a track. Add to that the fickle nature of New York City and who knows.

Do you think it will be like the country music stations in the metro New York area that came on strong and died quick deaths? Or will it be a strong addition to a city with large tastes?

Something that might have been interesting to see was Mr. Terry Labonte in a rental car, taking a couple of laps at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. This was the warm up for him, which he followed with 21 laps in a Richard Childress Racing Chevy.

The big question is will the one minute, 49.86 seconds at an average speed of 105.652 mph he clocked be enough to get him a win in the upcoming NAPA Auto Parts 200. Road racing is not like the ovals so it will be interesting to see how he does.

Who do you think will win?

Dark days seem to be looming in the near future for Ralf Schumacher. He is the less famous brother of Michael Schumacher - the 7x Formula One champion.

Mr. Ralf Schumacher seems to be in a delicate position as the Toyota team is making waves, and have been looking for a younger driver if they don’t see better results. Talks of German and Japanese drivers are already in the air.

Only time and performance till tell on this one.

In a long anticipated decision from Dale Jr., he announced that he would be joining Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson as the newest member of the racing team. When asked how his dad would react to the signing, Earnhardt replied, “I know he would trust Rick.”