Archive for October, 2008
Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
Here is my house from last year. Ignore the date stamp, I dropped the camera and the battery fell out and I didn’t bother to reset the date. Not much has changed about the house this year either - except the pumkins. I usually add a little bit to it each year but with the other stuff we’re doing around the house (i.e. painting, etc.) I haven’t had the time to buid my latest idea (I’m not telling you what it is - copycat), it’ll just have to wait until next year.
Have a safe and happy Hallowe’en everyone.
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Filed Under ( NASCAR) by admin on October-30-2008
Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
O.K., let me use just 3 words here, “I want it”!
If you keep your web browser tuned into this blog over the next week or so, you just might end up with your very own copy too!
If that wasn’t a hint of things to come then you really need to go back to school and learn some inference skills!
Just in time for Christmas too!
For those of you who can’t wait, then go here to order yours right this instant!
The 10 featured races in this collection, include:
- 1984 Talladega 500, Talladega Superspeedway: First win driving #3
- 1987 The Winston, Charlotte Motor Speedway: Fearless? Innovative? The Pass in the Grass
- 1989 Southern 500, Darlington Raceway; Victory over Darrell Waltrip; Ralph Earnhardt was inducted into the Darlington Hall of Fame the Thursday before the race
- 1993 Coca-Cola 600, Charlotte Motor Speedway: 1st race to finish under the lights; 2 penalties, lap down, victory over Jeff Gordon
- 1995 Busch Clash, Daytona International Speedway: Sixth and final Clash victory for Dale
- 1995 Brickyard 400, Indianapolis Motor Speedway: Earnhardt enters the victory lane of this world-renowned track
- 1995 Save Mart Supermarkets 300, Sears Point Raceway: First and only road course win
- 1998 Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway: Finally! After 20 years on the legendary track, Dale takes the flag and his first Daytona
- 2000 Cracker Barrel 500, Atlanta Motor Speedway: Guts and Glory – a photo-finish victory over Bobby Labonte
- 2000 Winston 500, Talladega Superspeedway: Driving hard, he moved from 18th to 1st over the final three laps to capture his final victory
You know, after looking at this list I have to say it is quite close to the list I put together almost 2 years ago, although I called mine “Dale Earnhardt’s Top 10 Races“, so my list included races in which he may not have won and it also included an IROC race as well as a certain Daytona 24hr race.
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Filed Under ( NASCAR) by admin on October-28-2008
Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
Jimmie Johnson finishes second and people are talking more about him than race winner Carl Edwards.
Why? Because Jimmie came in under the last caution, got 4 new tires, went back out and passed everyone in front of him like Dale Earnhardt at Talladega in Oct. 2000. Only Jimmie finished second and not first like Earnhardt, but to me (and to Jimmie and his team I’m sure) that second place is better than a win.
Here’s why; did you see the look on Carl’s face in Victory Lane when he was asked about his feelings about Jimmie finishing second? Carl didn’t know until that moment that Jimmie finished second (Carl thought Jimmie was still mid-pack) and it was caught on TV for all to see - he wore his emotions on his face right there - now he made a good recovery but you could still see the puzzlement in his face and hear the frustration in his voice as the interview continued.
For a split second there I honestly thought Carl was going to snap on the TV guy for playing a bad joke on him.
The way I see it is Jimmie’s second place finish, and the way he did it, is far more psychological taxing on his competition than a win like Carl’s would have been.
Based on his reaction in Victory Lane, I would say that Carl is officially done in this Chase - stick a fork in him - he is mentally out of the Cup picture now. Any psychological advantages Carl may have had are done now, even if Jimmie has a bad race Carl won’t be able to step up and take advantage of it like he could have before Sunday’s race.
So what’s your take? Do you agree or disagree? Let’s hear you … OK, read you instead - leave a comment.
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Filed Under ( NASCAR) by admin on October-28-2008
Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
Today GEICO Racing announced their newest driver for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series - Max Papis.
Papis signed a four-year deal with Germain Racing for 18 Cup races to race their No. 13 car. Gemain racing also announced that they will be part of an alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing for next year.
For some reason I can’t get the embed code to work for the ‘Max Interview’ commercial so you’ll have to follow the link instead. Once you are there click on the menu to enlarge the image to fit your screen.
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Filed Under ( NASCAR) by admin on October-28-2008
Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
Kodak is pulling out of NASCAR for good and is concentrating their maketing dollars in Pro Golf to capture more of the overseas market.
I wonder if they considered F1 at all since they were looking at overseas options. Just askin’ is all.
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Filed Under ( NASCAR) by admin on October-28-2008
Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
With only seven drivers on the lead lap by the end of the race, Carl Edwards led the final 185 laps of the Kroger 250 to capture his fifth Nationwide Series win of the season at Memphis Motorsports Park.
The race was tight at the end, and Edwards was more than impressed with the sportsmanship and clean driving of second-place finisher David Reutimann.
Carl Edwards:
Oh yeah, the last two laps I’d drive down the corner and I just was painting the, you know, the bottom of the racetrack. I mean just running right down there by the grass, and one and two, and right down there on the rumble strips on three and four and just bracing for the hit, you know I knew he was going to run into me just a little bit and move me out of the way—and he didn’t. And for the win, for him not to touch me, I mean, I can’t see myself ever rationalizing laying a bumper on him in my career after this, so he earned a lot of respect from me.
Just can’t believe that last restart, Reutimann was all over me and all he had to do was, you know, bump me out of the way and that would’ve been a lot different race, so, if I ever wear another guy’s t-shirt, it’ll be a David Reutimann t-shirt. It was amazing how clean he raced me at the end.
Reutimann, last year’s winner, settled for second place—but admitted a definite temptation to go for the win.
David Reutimann:
Yeah there was. You know I mean, you know you’re sitting back there and you’re thinking well if Carl was in this situation, what would he do to me? I know what he would’ve done. But, I’ve got all the respect in the world for Carl Edwards, I think he’s a great guy and a phenomenal driver. But when it comes down to it, he’s a competitor just like we all are, and he will definitely move you out of the way. It’s just not my deal. Maybe someday it’ll pay off, today it hurt me, absolutely hurt me. And I had two opportunities to do it and I knew when I didn’t do it — I just can’t tell you why I didn’t do it. That’s not the way my father taught me to drive, that’s not the way he raced, that’s not the way my family raced, and that’s not the way I do it, so. But it cost me a win today so I don’t feel too good about that.
To hear an audio version of this interview and more about the race at the Memphis Motorsports Park in Tennessee, visit http://www.nationwide.com/about-us/edwards-wins-memphis.jsp
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Filed Under ( NASCAR) by admin on October-28-2008
Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 24, 2008 – The clock is ticking down quickly to visit Ford Racing’s ‘I’m Driving One’ campaign and enter the sweepstakes for a chance at three great prizes.
The seven-week campaign, which kicked off September 24, is down to its final two weeks before three grand prize winners are selected. The prizes include:
· An all-expense paid trip to Ford Championship Weekend in Homestead, Fla., for the NASCAR season finale
· An all-expense paid trip to the NHRA drag racing finale in Pomona, Calif.
· Or a full-day Mustang driving school at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.
Fans still interested in entering the contest can go to the Ford family of websites (Ford.com, FordRacing.com and FordRacingEvents.com) to register. Three grand prizewinners will be selected on or about Nov. 7, while the final weekly prizewinner will be selected on or about November 12.
The ‘I’m Driving One,’ campaign features seven high-profile Ford Racing personalities. These racing heroes unite Ford’s diverse 2009 line-up of products with their fan base through a series of blogs about their test drives.
The campaign includes NASCAR Sprint Cup championship contenders Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth, along with their boss, Roush Fenway Racing principal Jack Roush.
From the NHRA, the father-daughter tandem of 14-time Funny Car champion John Force and 2007 NHRA Rookie of the Year Ashley Force are joined by 2008 NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Bob Tasca III.
The racing heroes give their thoughts after test driving the 2009 models of Ford Flex, Ford Mustang, Ford F-150, Ford Focus, Ford Fusion and the Lincoln MKS. Each Ford Racing personality drives a vehicle and utilizes it in their everyday life and blog about their thoughts and the features that they incorporated it into their busy lifestyle.
The final blog in the campaign will reveal each of the personalities’ favorite Ford vehicle of all-time, and why that vehicle was chosen.
The promotion is featured on the drivers’ personal websites and on the sites of the teams for whom they drive. Furthermore, other partner sites, such as team and personal sponsors, also carry the promotion.
About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles in 200 markets across six continents. With about 228,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company’s core and affiliated automotive brands include Ford, 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.ford.com.
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
There are four races left in the NASCAR Sprint Cup season and most believe that Jimmie Johnson (48) has the Championship all sewn up. Well I’ve got one thing to say to all of those people; “Remember Kyle Busch (18)”?
At the beginning of this Chase thing in September everyone said that the Championship was going to belong to Kyle Busch and his Joe Gibbs Racing team and look at Kyle now, he is sitting 445 points behind current leader Johnson and is in last place in the Chase standings.
Why?
Essentially two very bad races at the start of the Chase cost Busch his shot at the title, and like I said, there are four races left where anything can happen at anytime to anyone – including Johnson.
The title isn’t Jimmie’s yet, but it is certainly his to give away right now. One or two bad runs could almost certainly rob him of his record tying third straight Championship.
This weekend the ‘Cupsters’ are racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway and if I’m not mistaken it is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, non-restrictor plate tracks out there. If a team has a car set up just right they will be able to get close to 200 mph at the end of the straight-aways going into the corners.
If a team can’t get a car to turn, especially in the corners, then they will have a very long day at the track.
Speaking of the track, Atlanta is a 1.5 quad-oval with 24 degrees of banking in the corners and the racing surface itself is about 10 years old which offers less traction for the drivers than a newer track surface would.
When they raced at Atlanta back in March there was a bit of a tire controversy where the right side tires were wearing out way too fast which made the cars drive poorly in the corners – sounds like a familiar reoccurring theme here doesn’t it.?
Goodyear has done some tire testing in the past few weeks and they have decided to bring a different right side tire with them to the race so that the teams will have better control of their cars in the corners which will allow them to carry greater speed out of the corners onto the straight-aways.
But according to Kyle Busch in an interview at scenedaily.com these new tires will only last about 8 or so laps longer than the tire used in the spring race and then you will end up with an ill handling car and that means bad news for some teams as Atlanta has a history of long green flag runs.
After last week’s dominating performance by the Hendrick racing stable (4 out of the top 6 finishers were Hendrick owned cars) look for another strong performance from them (5, 24, 48, 88) again this week. The other team to look out for is Roush/Fenway. The Roush/Fenway cars are strong at Atlanta too, especially Carl Edwards (99).
The dark horse to watch out for this week would be the No. 43 Dodge driven by Bobby Labonte. Labonte has a good history at this track and if he has a good car under him he will be a contender at the end of the race.
No matter what happens though all eyes will be on Johnson (48) and his team to see if they can stand up to the pressure and win that third straight title. Let’s see if they can get one step closer to that goal this weekend.
Photo Credit: jimmiejohnsonchevrolet.com
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
Brian Vickers’ car was randomly selected for additional inspection after the race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday
NASCAR found that the side sheet metal of the car did not meet the minimum thickness requirement. The bodies of the CoT must be made from 24-gauge (.025-inch thick) sheet steel and the #83 car was less than that.
Brian Vickers’ crew chief Kevin Hamlin and the car chief, Craig Smokstad, of the #83 Red Bull Toyota have been suspended indefinitely from NASCAR and Hamlin has been fined $100 grand. That’s harsh, I wonder if they’ll ever get back into NASCAR.
Officially they were in violation of Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used do not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-2.1-D (exterior sheet metal body parts did not meet the specified minimum thickness) of the 2008 NASCAR rule book. - source nascar.com
Vickers and car owner Dietrich Mateschitz lost 150 driver and 150 owner points each as well.
According to nascar.com the thin sheet metal could have made the car 50 - 70 pounds lighter and would allow the team to use lead weights to put that lost weight back into the car in other lower places giving the car a lower centre of gravity that would allow it to turn better in the corners.
Sounds great, until you get caught. I wonder how many other teams are doing this? I know this isn’t new in any sense, but it appears that teams are still doing it, including the #83 Red Bull team.
Photo Credit: daylife.com
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
Man, I just can’t seem to settle down long enough to get things written down. I am so behind in answering my email too - sorry.
Last week was a ‘write’ off (get it? - never mind) I had to coach a ton of things; regular season senior boys volleyball game (lost 2-1), varsity boys rugby tournament (3-1-1, not bad eh?) and take 55 students to a cross-country meet just outside of the city (most runners finished in the top half of their fields), plus I had the regular stuff with my own kids (swimming, skating, etc.) as well as begin the home renovations that my wife has so patiently been waiting for me to start for the past 8 months (I promised her that they would be done before Christmas).
No that I’ve written this out I realize that I’m way too busy. All of this was in addition to my job as well.
Anyway, let’s get to the point form version of my take from Martinsville:
1) Jimmie Johnson rules! At least he does so far.
2) Dale Jr runs well at Martinsville, now all he needs is a win there.
3) Speaking of Hendrick drivers, 4 out of the top 6 were all Hendrick hot-shoes. That is dominance.
4) Good call by Kenseth’s team to keep him out on very old tires (80 laps I believe) to keep that track position. Kenseth ended up finishing a respectable 8th, and after his horrible day that was a pretty good feat.
5) 8 out of the top 10 finishers were Chase drivers too. That says something.
6) I haven’t been keeping track or anything but I think David Ragan may have gotten more points in these Chase races than some of the Chase contenders like Kyle Busch.
7) Tires, tires, tires! I can’t believe tires played a role in the outcome of the race again for some of the drivers. At least it wasn’t Dale Jr being punished by Goodyear with tire blowouts etc. this time around.
OK gotta go, but I’ll be back tomorrow with my own personal commentary about something NASCAR related that is making headlines in Canada, rumour has it that NASCAR is going to run snow tires for the first time in an exhibition race at Cayuga Motorspeedway in January - more on this, and something else that is even bigger, tomorrow!
Take Care!
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
Ten Grand Prize Winners to Compete for TimeShaver Challenge Trophy
Boston, October 2008 – Precise moves on pit road have helped lead the Gillette Young Guns  drivers to victory lane in nearly half the NASCAR® Sprint Cup Series races this season. To give fans the chance to experience the thrill of winning, Gillette®, a Procter & Gamble brand (NYSE:PG), today announced the “TimeShaver Challenge,” which rewards weekly prizes to consumers aligned with the Gillette Young Guns driver who shaves the most off his pit road time throughout each of the 10 races of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
In addition to weekly group prizes, the “TimeShaver Challenge” will provide 10 grand prize winners the chance to travel to Charlotte, N.C., and compete in a customized driving school led by the Gillette Young Guns, which include Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and 2008 Daytona 500 Champion Ryan Newman.
“This unique consumer promotion allows fans to follow the Gillette Young Guns drivers throughout the Chase and have a chance to win their own opportunity to compete for the Gillette TimeShaver Trophy,” said Michelle Potorski, Associate Marketing Director, Gillette Male Blades and Razors. “Race fans know that precision on pit road is like the precision of our razors, the slightest advantage leads to remarkable results.”
From now until the final race of the Chase on November 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, fans can visit participating retailers to purchase specially marked Gillette Fusion Razors that include one of six Gillette Young Guns Trading Cards. Each Gillette Young Guns Trading Card contains a special code that can be entered at GilletteYoungGuns.com. After registering the code, consumers will receive an e-mail confirming their registration. Fans can enter each time they purchase the specially marked Gillette Fusion Razors.
In its fifth year, the Gillette Young Guns program continues to be a successful marketing platform for Gillette. Throughout its tenure, the Gillette Young Guns drivers have captured a combined four NASCAR Cup Championships and four Daytona 500 victories.
About Gillette Fusion®
Gillette Fusion is the world’s first razor system with the revolutionary technology of a 5-blade Shaving Surface™ on the front of the cartridge and a Precision Trimmer™ on the back. Gillette’s Fusion family of razors includes Fusion, Fusion Power™, Fusion Power Phantom™, Fusion Phenom™ and Fusion Power Phenom™. The Gillette Fusion franchise launched in 2006; in 2008 it became P&G’s 24th brand to generate more than one billion dollars in sales, joining the ranks of powerhouse brands Tide®, Crest®, Braun®, Oral-B®, and Olay®. More information can be found at http://www.gillette.com
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 16, 2008 - With the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup and the NHRA Countdown to 1 in full swing, Ford Racing is pleased to provide additional opportunities for race fans and media to get insight and get behind the scenes as their favorite Ford drivers fight for the championship.
Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, is providing an exclusive video blog for fans called Chasin’ Biff. A new episode hits the web each week as Biffle gives fans a glimpse into his life away from the track and talks about the Chase and his life as a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver. Biffle’s playful personality brings a twist to the feature and guarantees there is always something unique, be it tire bowling, an egg toss or “Biff” trying his hand at drag racing. Chasin’ Biff can be found at either www.fordracing.com, or www.youtube.com/chasingbiff.
Biffle and fellow Ford racer Ashley Force, driver of the Castrol GTX NHRA Ford Mustang, are writing exclusive weekly diaries for USA Today detailing their championship efforts. Force, who is currently sixth in the NHRA Funny Car championship, has her diary appear every Wednesday, while Biffle, who is currently third in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup, has his diary posted on Thursdays. The diaries can be found at www.usatoday.com/sports/motor.
To provide further insight into the respective championship battles, Ford Racing has expanded its popular This Week In Ford Racing (TWIFR) audio podcasts. A special NASCAR version of This Week In Ford Racing is available for download from FordRacing.com or iTunes. Focused on The Chase as well as news and notes from the Nationwide Series and the Craftsman Truck Series, the NASCAR TWIFR podcast features insight and interviews with the newsmakers of Ford Racing.
During the Countdown to 1, a special NHRA version of the This Week In Ford Racing podcast is also available. This podcast is also available on FordRacing.com and iTunes.
Finally, fans can keep up with what their favorite Ford Racing personalities are driving off of the track through the “I’m Driving One” on-line campaign. The seven-week campaign features NASCAR drivers Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, along with their boss, Roush Fenway Racing principal, Jack Roush. From NHRA, the father-daughter tandem of John Force and Ashley Force are joined by 2008 NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Bob Tasca III.
The campaign will feature Ford’s biggest racing personalities test driving the 2009 models of Ford Flex, Ford Mustang, Ford F-150, Ford Focus, Ford Fusion and the Lincoln MKS. Each Ford Racing personality will drive a vehicle, utilize it in their everyday life and blog about the vehicles and how they incorporate it into their busy lifestyle. Consumers can read the personalities’ new blog posts each week.
The promotion is featured on the driver’s personal websites and on the sites of the teams for whom they drive. In addition, other partner sites, as well as the Ford family of websites (Ford.com, FordRacing.com, TeamFordRacing.com and Motorcraft.com) are carrying the promotion. A special pop-up bubble featuring the promotion is available for embedding at any of the sites.
In addition to the driver insight into the new vehicles, fans can register to win one-of-a-kind prizes through a two-tiered sweepstakes. Each week, a personalized autographed helmet from one of the racing personalities will be awarded to a fan. Entry periods do apply. A total of seven helmets, or one for each week of the program, will be given away.
Fans can also earn additional chances to win a grand prize by completing the “Refer a Friend” section of sweepstakes entry form. Three grand prizes will be awarded, including the Ultimate Ford Championship Experience, which features a trip to Ford Championship Weekend in Homestead, Fla., for the NASCAR season finale and the Ultimate California Drag Racing Experience, which features a trip to the 2008 NHRA finale in Pomona, Calif. The third grand prize is the Ultimate Ford Racing Driving Experience at Miller Motorsports Park, a full-day driving school experience for two.
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
The world of NASCAR never ceases to amaze me. Check this out, you can bid to sponsor JJ Yeley’s car on eBay. Yep, eBay and you can hit the buy it now option for a cool 12 million dollars.
If you go to the eBay site here is what you’ll find:
AMAZING NASCAR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY WITH JJ YELEY!
Could your company benefit from exposure to 75 MILLION loyal fans? This is a rare opportunity to get into the highly sought-after world of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series sponsorship with a champion racer, J.J. Yeley.
J.J.’s amazing success as a champion racer translates into more airtime for you and your brand. Here’s what your company gets:
· Your logo prominently displayed on the hood and on both sides of the race car
· The logo branded on the driver’s uniform, every team member’s uniform, and the trailer detail package
· Visibility on high traffic NASCAR websites
· Promotional apparel with the company name and logo
· Pit passes to entertain clients
· In-person appearances by J.J.
All of this and more during a TEN MONTH SEASON that boasted an average of 7.9 MILLION TELEVISION VIEWERS in 2006!
Additional stats on the unbelievable visibility NASCAR offers:
• #2 Rated Sport on Television
• 125,000 attendees per event on average
• Two races on the 36 race schedule have more than 200,000 attendees
• #1 Rated Sport for attendees, as 17 of the 20 largest sporting events in the USA are NASCAR events
• NASCAR events attract larger crowds than the Super Bowl, NBA Finals and the World Series combined
• Forbes Magazine ranks the Daytona 500 as the #4 most important sporting event in the world, and the #2 ranked Annual sporting event, trailing only to the Super Bowl
• More Fortune 500 companies rely on NASCAR to build their brand marketing than any other sport, currently more than 100
• #2 rated sport on television, trailing to only the NFL
• #1 rated Motorsports sport on television
• In 2006 NASCAR was the #1 or #2 sport on television 23 of the 36 weeks
• An average of 5.7 Million Households and 7.9 Million viewers tuned in during the 2006 season
• In 2006, the Daytona 500 had the highest television rating with an 11.3
• Largest TV markets are in Atlanta, New York, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Orlando
• Several markets saw increased viewers by 6%-15%, San Diego, Cleveland, Boston, Sacramento, Seattle, and New York City
• NASCAR fans are among the most Brand loyal fans
• NASCAR fans are more than three times as likely as non-fans to purchase NASCAR supporting companies products
• Sponsors involved in NASCAR in 2006 received more than $5.4 Billion in sponsor exposure value
• TV: FOX, TNT, ABC, ESPN, and SPEED televised weekly in over 150 countries and in more than 30 languages
• Radio: SIRIUS Satellite Radio, Motor Racing Network, Performance Racing Network, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network
• Internet: NASCAR.COM, AOL, and ESPN.COM
• Licensed Publications: “NASCAR Illustrated”, “NASCAR Insider” (Official NASCAR Member Monthly), “NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
• Preview”, “NASCAR Performance”, “NASCAR Scene”, “NASCAR Hot Stuff”, “The Chase”, and the “Official NASCAR Preview & Press Guide”
Film: NASCAR-themed Will Ferrell film, “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” has become the #2 highest grossing comedy of all-time, and according to Ad Age / Madison
More exciting information about J.J.:
Son of Midget racing legend “Cactus” Jack Yeley, J.J. Yeley has made his way through the ranks to the top tier of stock car racing. J.J., 31, has seen his stock soar from his beginnings as the youngest driver in Sprint Cup Racing Association’s history. At 21, J.J. was (at the time) the youngest driver ever to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, where he netted an impressive top-10 finish. In 2003, J.J. went on to have arguably the best USAC season ever with 24 wins! He accomplished the “Triple Crown,” winning the Midget, Sprint, and Silver Crown championships (joining the exclusive company of Tony Stewart as the only other person to do so). J.J. then made the same jump that Tony Stewart did and joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2004. In 2006 he became a full time Sprint Cup driver for JGR’s #18. 2008 was J.J.’s third season in the Sprint Cup NASCAR Series. He boasts seven career top tens, two top fives (with a career best 2nd at the 2007 Coca-Cola 600), and one career poll (2007 Citizens Bank 400).
If you want your company’s exposure to grow exponentially in 2009, the NASCAR Sprint Cup series is a proven, exciting way to reach the masses!
So what are you waiting for? Get in there and bid away, but just remember to wait until the end, otherwise you’ll drive up the price!
Photo Credit: ebay.com
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
Wow did you see last week’s race? It turned into a ‘drive to survive’ for the Chase contenders as well. Excellent job by Jeff Burton (31) and his crew to come out on top at the end of it all.
I can not believe Dale Earnhardt Jr’s (88) bad luck with tires this year, he seems to be snake bitten in that department. I don’t know if they run more camber in the tire than the other Hendrick teams, but that still wouldn’t explain the huge thermal nuclear explosion of the right rear tire during practice at Talladega that took off almost the whole rear of the car.
One good thing about this week’s race is that it is not at an aerodynamic dependent track, you could have the whole front end of the car missing and it wouldn’t make a difference to the car’s handling as long as all 4 tires were still pointed in the right direction.
Martinsville is a short ½ mile track that resembles a paperclip from above as it has long straight-aways with tight corners at each end of the track.
“The Paperclip” is unlike any other track in The Sprint Cup Series in that it has asphalt straight-aways and concrete corners. This pavement combo can be tricky for some of the drivers as they enter and exit the corners because concrete tends to allow the tires to grip better than asphalt does so that could make the cars loose coming off the corners as the tires may have good bite in the corners but break loose once they hit the transition between the two types of pavement.
One area of concern at Martinsville when they come to race there is the pit road. It is a tight and confined place to work if you are a crew member and it is even worse for the driver to get on and off of as it is very narrow and the pit stalls are rather small compared to most of the larger tracks.
Another thing each team has to watch out for is their brakes as they will be used a lot to get the cars whoaed down going into the corners and if you run out of brakes at Martinsville you can kiss any chance of finishing the race good-bye.
Probably the most important thing as a driver that you have to be concerned with this weekend is track position as it is very hard to pass there and very easy to get caught up in someone else’s mistake. Look for some of the teams in the tail end of the field to go on different pit strategies to get that better track position. Teams will be doing all sorts of things to get their cars up front, like staying out during a caution period or take just two tires to gain some spots on the track.
Qualifying is important because you don’t want to be starting near the end of the pack as you will most certainly be caught up in some sort of wreck at some point during the race. Starting up from will prevent that – well just until you start lapping cars I guess.
Look for Jeff Gordon (24) to have a good run here as well as Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson (48) and Dale Earnhardt Jr (88), but you must also look out for JGR’s Denny Hamlin (11) who has a history of running good on flat tracks, and Martinsville is certainly no exception. Tony Stewart (20) also runs well here and he isn’t afraid to mix it up on the track either so he should be fun to watch, but the driver I’m going to keep tabs on is Juan Pablo Montoya (42) who isn’t afraid to mix it up either, and for what ever reason usually runs well at Martinsville.
In any event, the race should be a fun one to watch. Expect the caution flag to come out early and often until the field ‘thins’ out a bit then expect a long green run near the end of the race.
I don’t expect any of the Chase contenders to be Mr. Nice Guy to Jimmie Johnson (48) either.
I would imagine some of the non-Chase drivers are going to be scared to race around Jimmie in case they are the one who ended Jimmie’s chance to three-peat the championship so look for some of them to give him a wide berth and I think it will get wider and wider with each of the remaining races too.
Photo Credit: daylife.com
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Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic
Our beloved Coco had to be put down last night. The poor little guy had developed a brain tumor. He was mainly my wife’s. Those two were practically inseparable. Patty’s heart is broken.
It was one of the hardest decisions but we had no choice.
Chase will miss him too and he was my “Little Buddy”.
So sad we are… he was not even two years old and money is tight so I cannot buy Patty another pup. Miniature Pinn’s are pricey little canines.
It’s so unfair to my wife. She does nothing but help every one else. She spends most of her own life taking care of her sick mother and when she’s not doing that she is taking care of the rest of us. Coco was her pride and joy and it’s killing me to see her go through this pain.
So long Little Buddy. We love you!!
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
I’m at the end of a long weekend as it was Thanksgiving up here in Canada, and I took some time off do do some large things around the house as well as spend some time with Family so I haven’t posted for a few days. This weekend I was multitasking with the best of them let me tell you.
I did get a chance to see about 75% of the race on Saturday night though as both my wife and kids went to bed early because of the colds they have and for once I don’t have it - now that’s a cause for celebration!
Anyway, I’ve got a bit to say about the race and I’ll get it up on Tuesday, perhaps during lunch after I go and vote - there’s a Federal Election going on up here on Tuesday, so if you’re Canadian get out and vote.
Photo Credit : allposters.com
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
In case you haven’t heard Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick got into a shoving match about Carl’s bump-drafting techniques. See the Jenna Fryer article for more. Here is what a few people had to say about the possible match-up;
Dale Earnhard Jr: “It would be tough, Kevin never backed down from anybody. But you know that Carl is pretty tough. It’d be quite interesting.”
Kyle Busch: “I guess Harvick didn’t have very nice things to say, and Carl got his feelings hurt. I’m going to go with Carl, with his build. But I still think Harvick is a pretty good scrapper.”
Darrell Waltrip: “You’re looking at two of the probably most high-strung drivers in either garage area, Nationwide or the Cup side. Carl’s passionate and he’s aggressive, and so is Kevin. That’s two bulls butting heads right there.”
Have your say:
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
After last week’s race at Talladega I bet the drivers of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series are happy to be at Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte N.C., I know I would be.
Even though Lowes Motor Speedway is a 1.5 mile quad-oval these drivers can get their cars roughly up to the same speeds as they run at the superspeedways, but you won’t see the same type of close quarter racing as you would at the larger tracks of Daytona and Talladega.
This is because the cars must slow down in the corners much more than they do at the superspeedways where they run wide-open all of the time and there is also no restrictor plate limiting the amount of horsepower these cars can produce.
These differences allow the cars to spread out more and not run in the close fender to fender racing that we see at restrictor plate tracks.
Car set-up, horsepower, and aerodynamics are important at Lowes. You might not see a lot of ‘bump-drafting’ to gain that slipstream advantage, that isn’t where the areo packages are as important here, where they are important is in the corners.
The lead car of the pack will have better front downforce because they will have the ‘clean air’ with no cars in front of them disturbing it, while the cars behind the leader will have less air pushing down on their front ends resulting in what is called an areo-push which causes the car to push towards the outside wall in an understeer-like fashion.
One advantage for all of the drivers is that this race is different from the race that is run here in May where the temperatures are typically cooler this time of year meaning the track itself will not vary in temperature very much as the race progresses allowing the teams make better adjustments on their handling during the course of the race.
With last week’s ‘drive to survive’ over we can see the carnage that Talladega left in the standings. Carl Edwards’(99) ill-timed bump-draft on teammate Greg Biffle (16) caused a big wreck that collected several of the Chase contenders. Even though Edwards and Biffle didn’t loose any positions in the standings they certainly lost points to current point leader Jimmie Johnson (48) who drove a smart and somewhat conservative race and was not involved in the Carl caused carnage.
Last week I wrote that the race at Talladega won’t win a Championship, but it certainly could hurt a person’s contention hopes for a Championship and that is what happened with Edwards and the rest of the Championship contenders (like Earnhardt and Kenseth) caught up in the wreck. This will especially hold true if Johnson goes error free for the next six races.
Before I move on to my predictions for this week’s race I just want to throw my two cents in about the controversial finish at Talladega last weekend.
Regan Smith (01) made a last lap pass on Tony Stewart (20) in the tri-oval just before the start/finish line, but he went below the yellow line (which is a big no-no in NASCAR) to do it.
Based on what I’ve read NASCAR issued a written statement at the pre-race drivers meeting saying there will be no tolerance to passing below the yellow line at anytime during the race and anything else that the drivers may have heard prior to that should have been thrown out the window, but Regan Smith apparently did not do that and made the pass well below the line.
NASCAR got the call right and, in my opinion the proper driver won the race.
With that being said, if I were Regan Smith vying with Tony Stewart for my first win ever at the Cup level and with a teammate behind me to help I would have done the same thing, but I would have held my line a little higher on the track, dropping my left-side wheels below the line instead of all of them. Of course there might have been some contact with Tony, but it would have looked more like Tony was coming down on me trying to force me below the yellow line, which he can’t do, and maybe, just maybe, NASCAR’s ruling might have gone in my favour instead of the way it turned out.
The drivers to watch out for Saturday night at Lowes are pretty much any of The Chase contenders, especially the Gibbs cars of Stewart (20), Busch (18) and Hamlin (11). You will also need to keep an eye on the Hendrick cars of Johnson (48), Gordon (24) and Earnhardt (88) as well as the Roush/Fenway cars of Biffle (16), Edwards (99) and Kenseth (17).
Some underdogs to watch for would be Kasey Kahne (9), who won here in May and Brian Vickers (83).
Myself, I’ll be watching Busch (18) who has the potential to be a very loose cannon now that he is all but mathematically eliminated from the Chase, and rookie Scott Speed (82) who is making his first ever Cup start this weekend – provided of course he can even qua | |
