Well I guess Dale finally knows what it is like to drive in a more competitive car. Not that his DEI cars weren’t ever competitive, they just haven’t been lately.
You know, I just realized that there is a slight Canadian connection to this Earnhardt and Hendrick merger. Together the first letters of their last names form EH, a popular Canadian saying. Whoa, I could take this further and include Tony Eury in this as well, then we would have Eeh, which is a more drawn out version of the old Canadian stand-by.
Anyway, I heard the test went well and everybody is happy, and patting themselves on their backs, but let me tell you they better not start celebrating too much as they are going to have a lot of pressure to perform right out of the box this year and for some fans anything less than a Championship will be a failure for next season. I hope they all hold up under the pressure they are going to be under.
Dale was quoted as saying that he didn’t like the move from DEI because of all the bad press he got, and hopes that he never does have to leave Hendrick Motorsports until he retires. Ouch for DEI.
Here are some testing pictures in the #5 throwback car. This happens to be the original paint that Rick ran on his very first car entry at a NASCAR Cup race.
Tony Stewart has got a challenger. A NASCAR talk radio show host, Rob Pascoe of WDFN AM 1130’s “On the Track” from the Detroit area has challenged Stewart to a race to the top of the fence at MIS in June ‘08. This came months after Stewart said to a media person… “I’d like to see you get your fat butt up there”… this guy, Rob, will probably blow Smoke away!! He is apparently not a Stewart fan and has also challenged Smoke to a boxing match. Smoke better be cautious…
I’ve not commented much on the Atlanta race because of the disappointing end. Seeing Martin Truex Jr. lose what was his race to Johnson over possible water in the fuel tanks sits better. At least now I can point the finger at NASCAR and/or Sunoco instead of the Hamlin crew. Marty Jr. had a great day!! Well… almost.
Back at the Cottage… I apologize to my fellow bloggers for my lack of attendance. I have been sick with some sort of flu bug. It’s still hanging on and seems to enjoy me as a host. Little bastard!!
OK, other than the whole Carl Edwards vs Matt Kenseth saga leading up to, and into the race, it only really got interesting near the end, but it still was interesting.
Dale Jr got his 8th DNF this season - he only had 7 combined DNFs from 2000 - 20006 - but at least it wasn’t the motor this time. Apparently he was fighting loose wheels all day and when they had a set of wheels on there that were done up right he was “as fast as hell out there”.
Equipment problems, with the air gun perhaps? Was there a recent crew change on his team? Was it sabotage? (that one was for you Dale Jr conspiracy theorists). Who knows, but I bet he’ll be glad when this nightmare of a season is over.
Kyle Busch’s team let him down again. I thought they got all of this pit crew mistake stuff sorted out by mid-season, but I guess I was wrong. I could understand the mistake if Kyle had pulled too close to the wall and the jack man didn’t have enough room to pump the handle, but he was on the other side of the car where there are no obstacles to hinder jack movement. Ugh!
Speaking about poor performance, it is awful hard to accelerate when all you got feeding the carburetor is water, as was the case for Denny Hamlin, Dave Blaney, and maybe The Biff.
NASCAR is currently investigating this, but it does little for Martin Truex Jr, who could very well have won the race if he had not driven up the back side of a badly accelerating Denny Hamlin on what should have been the last yellow flag of the day - except for maybe the yellow flag due to Earnhardt’s loose wheel crash.
OK, let’s talk about water. I worked for Shell all through High School and University, and I know a little bit about how these fuel tanks are made and placed in the ground, and let me tell you there had to be a very large amount of water in those underground tanks for them to get it out of the pump, unless there is a ground water leak somewhere in the system, but if that were the case then more cars would have had water problems.
The pipes for the pumps are not connected at the bottom of these underground tanks because the tanks are never 100% air-tight so there will always be condensation forming inside them. The exit pipes are usually located about 1-2 feet above the bottom of the tank to allow for the moisture that is in there (gas floats on water, so water will always be found at the very bottom of these tanks). So that means there must have been at least 1 or 2 feet of water in the fuel tank at the track. That is huge. That does not happen very often let me tell you. Why? Because you must also do water readings every week or so.
Taking a water reading is easy. You take the long ‘dip stick’ and put a putty-like cream on it (that is usually grey in colour) for the first 12 inches or so and dip it into the tank. The cream reacts with any water that may be in there (it usually turns red) and stays grey other wise. This way when you pull out your dip stick you can measure how much water is in the tank. Where I worked, we usually had about 5 - 10 cm of water in our tanks, which is about 2-4 inches.
“NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby said that no water was found in the Sunoco pumps following the race. Darby said all of the Sunoco documentation from the weekend shows no water in the tanks.” - Bob Pockrass at scenedaily.com
So where does that leave us? Nowhere. Was it sabotage? Certainly not likely, but not totally impossible either. Is sabotage, then why those cars and not a Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart? Unless they had a bad batch of water testing cream - I’ve seen it happen before - but that is still a huge amount of water to be in there for it not to be detected.
I’m very interested in finding this one out, but I’m still waiting for the official NASCAR word on how the ‘jet fuel-like substance’ got into Michael Waltrip’s manifold too.
We just may never find out where the water came from.
If you’re even remotely aware of how loyal a typical Red Sox fan is you’d know that they are all in celebration today after the team clinched the world title last night after a 4 game sweep. They did the same thing in ‘04 against St. Louis. This ‘07 team is full of young blood and it’s likely the Red Sox can win the World Championship again next year.
I just watched the documentary ‘Dale’ tonight - when there is a will, there is a way. I can’t really believe it has been over 6 years since that fateful February day.
Another thing I can’t really believe is how much the sport has changed since he left us.
Nothing about the documentary shocked me, or surprised me for that matter. I was left wanting more though … enough said.
I’ll write about this again when I’ve had a chance to absorb it more. There was one thing in particular that I found very interesting, and I don’t know if anyone else who saw the movie noticed it either. I’m going to do a little investigating before I write about it though, just to be sure.
Yellow pretty much sums up the Busch race at Memphis yesterday. Cautions are all part of a good race, but this race proved, to me at least, that there can be too many. By the time lap 120 was complete I was ready to watch a movie or something.
Kudos to Dave Reutimann for his first Busch Series win and chalk one up for Toyo and MWR too.
The Biff on the pole at Atlanta…. now there’s a surprise! Perhaps with all the negative publicity Roush-Fenway is getting over the Edwards-Kenseth fiasco, The Biff was able to focus… whatever!! But I think it’s cool to see Greg get a pole and the RedSox… WOW!! 3-0 in the World Series. Our household is full of diehard RedSox fans, including my 10 year old son who is going to get a pancake breakfast this morning to celebrate the Sox victory.
Reading all the A.P. articles, blogs and other related media concerning Carl Edwards, Kenseth and Roushfenway only made me look into this on a deeper level, especially where Carl is concerned.
I’ve concluded, although my conclusion is relative to only one side and/or possible reason{s}, that Carl is disliked not only in the RoSox camp, but in the general garage areas as well. This is a guy that has it all. Personality, talent, looks, brains and brawn. He is very sure of himself with glowing self esteem and confidence. Chances are he grew up this way and his peer rivalry goes back as far as Kindergarten. Living in these shoes is not easy. His peers have most likely always viewed him for something he’s not… a cocky, self-centered know-it-all. Guys like Carl usually develop a lot of resentment and unresolved anger due to their being misunderstood, disliked and ridiculed. This evolves over time and can erupt. The good news is, with maturity it usually levels off.
Does this excuse his on-camera display? No. But it does make sense in what is a very gray area. I hope these guys work this out. RoSox is an awesome organization with the potential to win championships and it’s a shame to see all this talent faltering due to boys being boys.
As you know, in the past I’ve really haven’t been a fan of Carl Edwards. I even have stated that his “Ah Shucks” demeanor hasn’t fooled me a bit and, after seeing the video of him confronting Matt Kenseth, I am reaffirmed in my belief that Carl isn’t as nice as people think he is.
Just watch the video. I don’t think they were foolin’ around. Look at the fear in Kenseth’s eyes, and the self-satisfying sneer on Edwards’ face after he raises his closed fist at Kenseth in an intimidating fashion which resulted in Matt cringing away.
Hey Carl, how many Championships have you won? Um … let me count … just a sec … looking it up … hang in there … got it, got it … oh here it is! NONE! How many has Kenseth won? One more than you. Who do you think Jack Roush is going to keep if this keeps up? Thinking you? Then you are thinking wrong. You’re going to find yourself driving Truck again faster than you can say, “Want ‘roids with that?” if you continue to embarrass the Roush/Renway organization and your sponsors like that.
Carl explained what happened today in a conference call. I’ve added my own take on what he really meant to say after each quote,
What Carl said; “First of all, I was definitely wrong for showing my anger and putting on an aggressive display towards Matt Kenseth after the race at Martinsville,” he said. “I definitely want to apologize to my fans, to Office Depot, to Matt Kenseth, to DeWalt, to everyone at Roush Fenway for letting it come to that. That was definitely the wrong thing to do.”
What Carl really meant to say;
“I can’t believe I went off in front of the camera like that - next time I’ll check first to see if it is on. I hope they don’t fire my a$$, because if they do I don’t think anybody would want to hire me or sponsor me - not even in the truck series. Oh man!”
What Carl said; “What led up to the deal that happened after the race of me confronting Matt, it was not a one-day deal,” he said. “It wasn’t just Sunday’s on-track incident where I bumped into Matt and he bumped into me harder and I got madder all day. You know, as a team, we need to do a better job working together.”I’ve won three races this year in the Nextel Cup Series. When I win, people call and congratulate and people are happy for me. It’s just the wrong people. I’ve got Jimmie Johnson calling me every time I win to say good job. And my teammates aren’t the ones doing that.”
What Carl Really Meant to say;
“I can dish it out, but I can’t take it. I sure wish that I got that Hendrick deal instead of that whimpy Earnhardt, Jimmie is a nice dude. I’m so under-rated here at Roush/Fenway. I can’t believe they don’t call me when I win - hmm maybe I should take the initiative and call them when they win and work on this team thing- no, bad thought, they really should call me first … Ah Shucks, it is all about me after all - just look at how buff I am.”
I’m done with Carl. He can back flip right on out of NASCAR for all I care.
I don’t usually like promoting eBay related stuff on my site, but this is worth posting and I urge all of you bloggers out there to copy this in its entirety and place it on your site (no need to give reference to me either - the cause outweighs any the form of plagiarism in my opinion), or link to it, or if you are not a blogger then email the links to your friends.
I was recently contacted by a representative of the Ford Motor Company to see if I would be willing to promote their ‘Warriors in Pink’ campaign, and after reading what he had to say, I am.
Warriors In Pink
This year’s Warriors In Pink campaign has enlisted celebrities to join Ford in the fight against breast cancer by signing and decorating mini Warriors in Pink 1/18th scale model Mustangs to be auctioned off on eBay for breast cancer research with all proceeds benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
In addition to Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards being involved in this other celebrities include:
David Arquette
Courteney Cox
Kelly Clarkson
Toby Keith
Richard Simmons
Cast of General Hospital
Cast of Young & The Restless
Cast of Grey’s Anatomy
Cast of Desperate Housewives
Cast of Brothers and Sisters
Cast of House
Laurie Force, wife of NHRA racer John Force, mother of Ashley, Brittany and Courtney
Ashley Force, driver of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang Funny Car (her decorated Mustang is pictured)
Brittany Force, driver of the Brand Source Super Comp dragster
Courtney Force, driver of the Brand Source Super Comp dragster
Ford has supported Komen for the Cure for 13 years and has dedicated more than $90 million in cash and in-kind donations to save lives and help end breast cancer forever.
“Ford has been a long-standing supporter of Komen for the Cure and this year we’ve designed a special product to help raise awareness and find a cure for breast cancer,” said Connie Fontaine, Ford Customer Experience Manager. “The celebrity signed and decorated Mini-Mustang charity auction allows fans to bid on a collector’s item signed by their favorite celebrities and also help in the fight against breast cancer.”
Each mini-Mustang is a 1/18th scale replica of the Ford Mustang GT specially designed to replicate the 2008 Mustang with Warriors in Pink package, which was launched earlier this year. Produced in a limited edition of 2,500 units, the Mustang with Warriors in Pink package is the first-ever Ford vehicle designed exclusively in support of Komen for the Cure and is currently available for consumers at their local Ford dealer. Ford’s goal is to donate more than half a million dollars to Komen for the Cure through these sales in addition to other fundraising efforts.
Available on V-6 Premium Array Coupe or Convertible models, the Mustang with Warriors in Pink package includes a pink ribbon and Pony fender badge, pink Mustang rocker tape striping, charcoal leather trimmed seats with pink stitching, aluminum-spoke steering wheel with pink stitching and charcoal floormats with pink ribbon and contrast stitching. The Mustang with Warriors in Pink package, which includes the Mustang Pony package, will be available in three colors to please the spirits of all Warriors: black, metallic silver and performance white.
Launched in 2006, the Ford Warriors in Pink campaign recognizes the strength and courage it takes to deal with the everyday challenges of fighting breast cancer. The Warriors in Pink collection of apparel for men and women feature important symbols signifying the message of hope, strength and unity in the commitment to the fight against breast cancer. All apparel is available on Fordcares.com and 100 percent of net proceeds will be donated to Komen for the Cure. Last year, the line of apparel generated more than $1.1 million in sales, with all net proceeds going to Komen for the Cure.
About Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, we have invested nearly $1 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, breast health or breast cancer, visit www.komen.org or call 1-800 I’M AWARE.
About Kompolt
The original online auction agency, Kompolt (www.kompolt.com) is the highly regarded marketing agency that concentrates on promoting brands and building brand trust through high-profile, high-value charity auctions through the eBay Giving Works program, powered by MissionFish. Non-profits, agencies, and top brands turn to Kompolt to design, create and manage the eCommerce segments of their Cause Marketing and other promotional campaigns.
About Ford
Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles in 200 markets across six continents. With about 260,000 employees and about 100 plants worldwide, the company’s core and affiliated automotive brands include Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo and Mazda. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford’s products, please visit www.fordvehicles.com.
Photo Credits: Ford Motor Company (decorated mini-mustang pictured is Ashley Force’s)
In case you missed it, Ryan Newman made a hard charge near the end of the Martinsville race and shoved Jeff Gordon out of the way to do it. I bet if he caught Jimmie he would have done the same too.
Do I object to this? No. Just because these guys, Gordon and Johnson, are racing for the Championship does not mean they should be treated any differently than the others on the track. It is a race after all, not two races on the same track, and everyone is fighting for a win or, for some, a ride or sponsor for next year as well as to stay in the top 35. The Chace drivers are not untouchables and should not be treated as such. They are just another car to pass on the track. Period.
Newman stated that he was not going to change his driving style for Chasers such as Gordon and Johnson.
“In my opinion I’m a championship driver and just because I had some bad luck this year doesn’t mean I should change the way I race for guys that are going for the Cup,” he said.
Apparently Gordon didn’t like being ‘roughed up’ a bit.
“I understand he said got in there too hot and made a mistake, but that mistake almost cost us the race. And so I was pretty upset about it, obviously. He was faster than me and he basically told me by his front bumper hitting my rear bumper down in the middle of [turns] 1 and 2 on one of those restarts. I basically had to give him the inside because I couldn’t afford to let him hit me any harder than that, and he was faster than me.” Jeff said.
There was no malice on Newman’s part. What happened was just racing. Like it or not.
With all the clouds coming in I would have sworn Boris Said was racing at Martinsville this weekend, but they did manage to get qualifying in so I guess ol’ Boris wasn’t around after all.
Jeff Gordon’s team is really turning it on in the Chase, they grabbed the pole for this weekend’s race.
To be honest, that wasn’t too much of a surprise as Jeff Gordon really likes running there, and drivers and their teams seem to put a little extra into tracks that they like to run at.
What really is notable though is that 3 of the DNQ’s actually ran faster than Kyle Petty and Bill Elliott, but because of the Top 35 rule and the Past Champion’s Provisional these guys got to stay while Sam Hornish, Brian Vickers and Joe Nemechek all had to go home.
Does anyone really enjoy qualifying anymore? Not me, I already know 35 of the teams that will be in the race anyway so why bother watching or even going? It is the Top 35 rule and the elimination of second day qualifying that has killed qualifying and started the use and abuse of the Past Champion’s Provisional.
You know, I never really had a problem with the Past Champion’s Provisional, but as it has been used and abused these last few years I’m not liking it anymore. Case in point, Dale Jarrett’ s farewell tour next year is the exact same number of races as he has provisionals, does that mean if he actually qualifies that his tour will be extended for one race? Just maybe.
What I really have a problem with is the Top 35 rule. I think the fastest cars that qualify should be the ones in the race. It is the Top 35 rule that has lead to the use and abuse of the Past Champion’s Provisional anyway. Before you had the Top 35 rule any past Champion could use a provisional, not just the ones outside the Top 35. That means Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, etc. might have had to use the provisional to keep their car in the field and that would have eliminated most of the abuse this provisional has received over the last few years.
You know, even when Dale Earnhardt was running for Championships, and the like, he still had to use the Past Champion’s Provisional or second round qualifying from time to time. That was when you had to qualify on speed. Back then you didn’t see any of the provisionals being abused the way they are now.
You know, if they had second round qualifying they would have had more races this year that were actually set on speed rather than owner points. Second round qualifying would also have allowed other drivers like Boris Said the opportunity to actually race. Boris sat on the pole at Daytona this year and with but a handful of cars left to qualify the skies opened up and qualifying was erased. Boris went home instead of racing that weekend. This happened, not once, but twice to him this year. If they had second round qualifying they would have been able to get qualifying done and Boris would have raced more this year.
NASCAR really has to look at this Top 35 rule and it’s qualifying procedures in the off-season, as I think it is destroying the sport. I know Toyota doesn’t like it too much right now, because if NASCAR didn’t have the Top 35 rule then there would have been a lot more Toyota’s in more races this year. Hopefully they can put pressure on NASCAR to change it’s qualifying policies, because they aren’t going to do it just for us, the fans, who actually used to enjoy qualifying.
Skinner… Hornaday. Hornaday… Skinner.
Skinner.
These NCTS drivers are switching the points lead on a weekly basis. But Mike Skinner actually spread the lead yesterday by 11 points. If the pattern continues with 3 races remaining, the Champion will be Ron Hornaday.
The Truck race at Martinsville had it’s share of cautions as usual, but the best two came near the end. With only 7 laps to go the track was red flagged due to a multi-truck wreck that left fluid and assorted truck parts everywhere. With the restart underway and Skinner in the lead with 3 laps remaining, things were crazy with more bumping and banging than that of a wreck-um derby. With less than a lap to go and Skinner out front Hornaday pulled a stunt I’ve never seen to get around another truck and what he left behind turned into a pile up that allowed Skinner the win, followed by Jack Sprague and Hornaday took 3rd. The rest of the field literally limped, crawled and trickled across the finish line, under power at a reasonable speed with spoilers dragging and flat tires.
Good ole Truck racin’!!
The Petty Enterprises #45 car is falling quickly and Richard Petty himself is getting behind the wheel to keep the car in the top 35…. well not quite, but Kyle Petty has talked about putting Bobby Labonte in the seat. Bobby has done very well lately in the #43 Cheerio’s car and with that momentum
it’d be crazy to pull him. Kyle wants both cars in the top 35 and instead of earning it himself he wants to do it by proxy. Bobby has provisional’s as well and far more talent than Kyle, but I’m against this sort of thing and although other teams do it {MWR} I don’t condone it.
Scenario:
Martin Truex Jr.’s car has fallen out of the top 35… DEI decides to put Dale Jr. in the #1 and Truex Jr. in the #8 for the rest of the season.
YA Right!! That would fly with the fans like a lead balloon.
There are few things in life as good as getting the endorsement and recognition of the recognized and lauded top of an industry. To have say, Bill Gates mention that so and so is up and coming, or Warren Buffett mentioning his admiration of a broker. This is also true of sports, like the comments of Arnold Palmer on Tiger Woods, or Kareem Abdul Jabbar on Michael Jordan. Not to be left out of this is Lewis Hamilton receiving the notice and positive comments from Sir Jackie Stewart.
While out promoting his recent book, Winning is Not Enough: The Autobiography by Jackie Stewart, Sir Stewart was asked about his thoughts on the rookie Hamilton that stands to win his first world championship.
Now tell me that is not something that would make your chest fill with pride and joy.
Lewis Hamilton has made an impact on Formula One, and his winning the championship would be a feather in his cap that would seal his accomplishments. And he has little fear to worry about in achieving that feather. He currently leads with a decent point spread and a top finish in Sao Paulo virtually assures his place.
But what is next?
I would say that Hamilton must become like Jordan and Woods, in that he must use his win as a stepping stone for his confidence and charge for a piece of history. His rookie year is a great accomplishment, but he should not let it be a distraction from his future performance. So far there is no indication that he won’t continue this streak of performance, but a note of caution never hurts.
So I wonder how many others believe that Lewis Hamilton will become one of the greats in Formula One, like Sir Jackie Stewart? How long will it take him to gather 3 world titles and 27 victories? Or do you believe he can do it?
I think he will, but I honestly can’t say how long it will take. Youth provides energy and time, but it also allows for inexperience and prideful exuberance. We shall see, with all eyes, and those of Sir Stewart, watching each race.
A Nationwide PR Rep sent me a nice Email with a link to the new logo. I like it. And as I said before, I like the change and it won’t take me long to get used to it.
The new logos are nearly mirror images.
It’s late in the A.M. for me… it’s Friday… I have to head out the door very soon…
Have a great weekend!!
I like it, as it is simply stated and apparently that was their goal:
“The logo is simple yet extremely effective in delivering a completely new look to the branding of the series,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR’s chief marketing officer. “It’s good to be able to place a ‘face’ to a name now.”
“Nationwide is pleased to be able share the new NASCAR Nationwide Series logo today,” said James Lyski, Chief Marketing Officer for Nationwide. “Over the next several years Nationwide intends to make this series the finest entertainment experience in racing.” - nationwide.com
For more on this go to the above Nationwide link. There is also a Carl Edwards video there talking about Nationwide and it’s sponsorship of the Grand National division of NASCAR.
I was doing my daily “NASCAR blogger crawl” today and I came across an interesting posting by fellow blogger Michael over at NASCAR Eclectic about 1973 Rookie of The Year winner Lennie Pond, and how Juan Montoya looks like he might be the winner this year by barely edging out David Ragan. Yep, David Ragan. Who would have thought he would be close enough? But he is.
This got me thinking about the whole “Rookie of The Year” thing. To me I always thought that winning The Rookie of The Year title was a bit of a curse. Here’s why: Look who won the title in the 1990’s and where are they now/what they did,
1990 - Rob Moroso: Dead due to drinking and driving
1991 - Bobby Hamilton: Died of cancer, won 4 races and made more of name for himself driving in the truck series than in Cup
1992 - Jimmy Hensley: He made his first ever Cup start in 1972. It wasn’t until he was near the end of his career that he finally had a good shot at Cup and after he won the title he started driving on a part time basis. Better known a Busch driver (9 wins) than a Cup driver
1993 - Jeff Gordon: Here is an oddity, he has had success since winning the title and is currently in contention to win his 5th title
1994 - Jeff Burton: Has had success at the Cup level and is well respected in the garage area, but still has not won the Championship and has had sponsorship problems these last few years
1995 - Ricky Craven: Suffered a bad head trauma while in a NASCAR race and was not able to recover fast enough to keep his ride at Hendrick’s, then got screwed over by Cal Wells, and really hasn’t raced since
1996 - Johnny Benson: Looked like he had a promising career going, and then, seemingly out of nowhere, was released by his team and replaced by Scott Riggs (who hasn’t done much either). Johnny has since become a full time Craftsmen Truck series driver.
1997 - Mike Skinner: Did you know he made his first Cup start in about 1985? Landed with a good team (RCR) and team mate (Dale Earnhardt). The Lowe’s car struggled unless it was a non-points race and Skinner soon found himself back in the truck series.
1998 - Kenny Irwin: Died in an useless accident at New Hampshire.
1999 - Tony Stewart: Whew, a diamond in the rough - just needs a little more media savvy - with 2 Championships so far.
Aside from Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, not a single one of these drivers has had a great Cup career since winning the title. Based on this it would appear that winning the title would not be a good thing, unless you are from Indiana.
So I decided to look into this ‘curse’ thing a little more and I found lots of other bad luck, bad career, etc. cases like Davey Allison winner in 1987 and Alan Kulwicki winner in 1986 who both died in aircraft related deaths. Or how about 1983’s winner Sterling Marlin? Wrongly blamed for Dale Earnhardt’s death in the immediate aftermath, and his one real shot at winning the Championship ended with a broken neck in the last 1/3 of the season. Speaking of Dale Earnhardt he won in 1979 and died in a car wreck in 2001. Richard Petty won in 1959, and lost his grandson Adam in a crash very similar to Kenny Irwin’s at the same track none-the-less.
Finally, how about Canadian Earl Ross who won in 1974? He won 1 race that year but that was really the only year he raced. He raced 2 races in 1975 and 1976 then raced back to Canada and eventually became a regular Friday night racer at a track near London Ontario after a brief stint in the CASCAR Super Series.
Based on all of this, I don’t know if I would ever want to win the NASCAR Rookie of The Year title - unless I was from Indiana.
I can be an ignorant s.o.b with my mind focusing, yet missing out on the things happening in the racing world that are vital. NASCAR is now so very different from the days of yore, and some is negative in the hearts of the long time fan. Vroom made a very good point of this in a recent post. Like everything else, NASCAR has and continues to evolve, but deep behind the scenes there are many people doing things for the sport that 20 years ago would’ve been thought of as taboo. I clicked on a link in one of the many NASCAR related web sites I visit, and in fact I cannot tell you which site it was, but it took me to the Drive for Diversity site. This was all brand new to me, but what an eye opener. It’s a racing program started in 2004 with opportunities for minority and female participants with established race teams in the NASCAR Grand NationalDivision and the NASCAR Whelen All-AmericanSeries. http://www.drivefordiversity.com/
This is awesome and many kudos to all those involved. Richard Childress Racing is a big supporter as well as a Team Partner and Tony Stewart is involved, as he has a huge interest in promoting the potential of young drivers.
Are you a Monster Truck fan? Wondering what promoter is really moving the sport to the next level? Need to get a fix for an outdoor event and not sure where to look?
Well I found a comment that seems to answer all of that. Major League of Monster Trucks. One fan has compared this to 2005 Shafer World Finals, and rates this the equal or perhaps the better.
I have not seen this outdoor event, though it looks awesome. From what has been said there was quite the race to be seen. Intense racing, big air, just a complete joy for fans.
Andrew Ranger left a struggling CHAMP Car team for a chance to drive a fairly competitive stock car in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series this year and the gamble paid off as he won the inaugural Championship trophy.
Andrew, who will be 21 in November, won just one of the 12 races that comprised the season, but with a bunch of top 5’s (4 second place finishes) he was too consistent for the other competitors.
The title win also gets him a ride in this Saturday’s ‘NASCAR All-Star Showdown’, in Irwindale, Calif., which has been promoted as the Daytona 500 of the developmental series of NASCAR.
Although he won’t be driving his NCTS car, he will be in a car that has been especially prepared for him.
I have read conflicting reports about what Andrew has planned for next year. Some reports state that he is going to remain in the Canadian Tire Series and defend his title, while others have him driving in either the Truck or Nationwide series, or both!
What ever Andrew decides I’m sure he’ll make the right choice for himself and excel at it. He may be 20, but his maturity level is years beyond that - that would be his maturity as a driver.
The year was 1973. I was a high school sophomore and Lennie Pond was the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year. You’ll hear Lennie’s name from time to time and usually out of “Jaws”, D.W. Lennie beat out Darrell for the Rookie honors. It was one of the tightest contentions for the Rookie title of all time, but Waltrip went on to become a Champion and Lenny… well he had the makings of a champ but had too much bad luck. He had many runner up finishes but only one victory in his 17 years… Talladega in 1978. I cannot locate anything on what he does today or where he is. This is the case of many past greats.
2007 Rookie of the Year… looks like it’s going to Montoya. Not a surprise, but it’s been a boring season for the rookie contenders. The ‘08 season promises to be better, with several open wheeler’s coming into NASCAR. My money is on Franchitti next year.
Tony Stewart is not too happy finishing 7th at Lowes on Saturday. He figures he had a top 3 car for sure, so what happened? In Tony’s eyes Paul Menard happened, that’s what.
You see, as Tony was leaving the pits after a “gas’n go” Paul was pulling into his pit stall just in front of the 20 pit stall. The two cars touched, but damage was minimal. Paul then sat there for a second and Tony hit the gas, pulled out in front of Menard and hit Kasey Kahne in the side, nearly spinning Kahne sideways into his pit stall and caused a whole lot of damage to the right side of the nose piece on his own car.
Now granted, after everything was said and done and Menard’s and Stewart’s crews were jawing at each other it got a little out of hand. When Stewart came back in for repairs to his car the next time by the Menard crew all stood there at their pit stall wall and cheered and clapped at Stewart and his crew. Why? Don’t know, but I’m quite sure in my own personal opinion the 15 crew were ticked off at getting blamed for the original collision and the one that immediately followed and they applauded Tony on his ‘great’ driving ability. Sarcasm at its best folks.
I actually like Tony Stewart and have defended him on occasion, but in this case he and his crew are wrong and are looking for a scape-goat for their mistakes. Who was watching Tony’s back? Where was his spotter, or crew chief when Menard was coming in? Menard does not know that Tony is going to pull out. The last time I heard anything it is sort of the unwritten rule that the car coming in has the right of way.
Anyway, the contact with Menard was minimal, it was the contact with Kahne that did Tony in. Where was his crew then? They were all yelling on the radio complaining about Menard when they should have been watching out for Tony as he was pulling out blindly into traffic.
If Tony should be upset at anyone it should be his crew and not Menard.
Just because he and 11 others are in the Chase does not mean that the rest of the field should lay down for them. The last time I checked there were 43 cars entered in the race all trying to win, not to try and stay out of the way of the ‘chosen ones’ in the Chase. If NASCAR wanted the Chasers to compete between themselves without the interference of non-Chase contenders then they would have created a 12 car 10 race format, but they didn’t.
Mental break down on the team and nothing else Tony, so stop blaming others, suck it up, and go win the Championship already!
