Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic

Believe that there are many photo thieves…. feel free to steal this… I hope you like the frame!!

For the rest of you good honest folks… I shot this at Loudon 2 weeks ago. My home track and a place close to my heart. Loudon is as boring a race as there is, but the facility itself is awesome and Bruton Smith is only making it better… my wish is he banks the corners…. make it another Vegas so to speak. Plans already include more seating and new modern restrooms. He’ll never have a problem filling the seats there, as it is by far the best track in the northeastern US, next in line to Dover.

I posted this shot of the #20 because it’s the final season with Smoke behind the wheel. I have a rather large diecast collection and after this past weeks announcement that Tony is leaving JGR I must add this car to my collection. It is many firsts… first year Toyota, COT and the first time Tony has raced something in Cup other than a Chevy. Then it can claim last as well. First and last in the same season. I will wait… my hope is Tony gets a victory and that raced version would be my purchase.

Some Stewart fans are distraught over his choice…I claim to be a fan of his, but I am the “NASCAR Fan Rare Breed”. He is one of several of my drivers of choice. I suppose I am not fanatical. I roll with change fairly well and I see this change as an incredible opportunity. This is where Tony’s heart is at and if one’s heart is in it, the rest will follow. A good example of this is Dale Jr.. With DEI and Mother Teresa out of the picture he has relaxed and his performance has shown dramatic improvement. I realize that equipment plays part of this, yet it cannot be denied that Jr.’s state of mind is allowing him to focus from his heart. Tony only knows where Tony’s heart is at…. but we all know it is with Chevy. That may seem trivial in the scheme of things, but guys do hold “things” as objects of affection. At least he’ll be driving the car he loves. No, it won’t be with Home Depot and we won’t see those silly commercials.

For those of you who are angry, upset, distraught or any other negative emotion… these are self centered feelings based on what you expect. Expectations can be our biggest disappointments in life. It’s much easier to roll with the River. Like that of a drifting twig… the twig knows it has no control over the river currents. It has times of turbulence and times of tranquility, but it only has true problems when it is caught up by resistance. Change is inevitable and acceptance is the key… so go ahead… rear up your heads and buck. I only hope y’all feel better for it.

Chalk up another win for Shrub.

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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog

This article also includes excerps from my interview with Tony Stewart this week.

Stewart’s luck about to change: After settling his future, he’s a good bet to

come out on top at Chicagoland

This week’s race at Chicagoland Speedway brings with it uncertainty. Uncertainty about the track, uncertainty about the new car of tomorrow (CoT) and uncertainty about the future of driver Tony Stewart (20).
Drivers and their crew chiefs are going to be scratching their heads a lot this week because this race is going to have two firsts: They will be racing at night under the lights for the first time ever at this track, and they will be racing the CoT for the first time ever at this track, as well.

“You value engineers right now, more than ever,” Tony Stewart said in an interview this week. “There is nothing that really translates from the old car (to the new car), especially on the front end because of the less-suspension travel. Now we are running ‘bump rubbers’ (or bump stops that are mandated by NASCAR that limit the amount the shock travels up and down) and all this trick stuff on the front, so it’s quite a bit different than what it has been.”
Since the race is run at night, the track should allow for more traction because the sun is not beating down on it, making it slick. More traction should mean an increase in speed and this could be a problem for teams because Chicagoland has become quite bumpy in the corners.

More traction and greater speeds on a bumpy track, in a new car that has limits on shock-absorber travel, will make for a busy night of racing for some. The team with the engineers who find the best suspension combination for the drivers and crew chiefs to work with will be the one to beat.
Those to look out for this week are: Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jeff Gordon (24), Jimmie Johnson (48) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88); Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Kyle Busch (18), Denny Hamlin (18) and Tony Stewart (20); Richard Childress Racing drivers Kevin Harvick (29) and Clint Bowyer (07); and Roush/Fenway drivers Matt Kenseth (17) and Carl Edwards (99).

If you want a dark horse pick, I’d go with either Casey Mears (5) or Brian Vickers (83), but my bet is on Tony Stewart as he has finally settled what he is going to do next year and his team can focus on getting better, making The Chase and winning some races.
Tony is hungry and perhaps had one of his best shots for his first win of the season taken away last week at Daytona as he had to leave the car and allow a substitute driver, J.J. Yelley, to take over the driving duties partway through the race as he was too ill to continue, watching the finish from the infield care centre hooked to IVs trying to rehydrate. So far this year, the only luck Tony has had has been bad luck.
“You can’t do anything different than what we’re doing. We’re doing things right as a team we’re just snake-bitten, having bad luck right now, and there’s nothing you can do about it. You start putting more pressure on yourself if you’re running 30th to 35th each week (alluding to the Top 35 rule) … but, when it’s stuff that is out of your control like a tire going down or somebody turning you around, there’s nothing you can do about that. That’s just bad luck.”
Now that he’s feeling better and he’s decided what he’s doing next year, look for Tony’s luck to change this weekend — providing his car engineers give his crew chief a good suspension package to work with.

This article can be seen at thespec.com.

Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

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