Nascar Racing Online

Archive for October, 2009

It’s kinda turned into Kyle Busch Day today here, but so what. That happens sometimes. Anyway, here’s a lovely shot of Kyle and Joey Logano going up against Chris Jericho and Big Show. Sadly, there was no actual wrestler-on-driver violence. Ah, well. I’m sure you’ve got plenty of ideas for what could have been said while the mikes were off.

After the jump, Kasey Kahne‘s crew goes digging.

JJ:
Not even NASCAR can escape the culture while in California, as rival pit-crews, confused by the colors of their fire suits, assume the bloods vs. crips mentality and begin tagging their home turf.

Go Chargers:
Come on, the damn bets are down! Just throw the dice!

Eclair:
A little bit softer now,
Shout!
A little bit softer now,
Shout!
A little bit louder now,
Shout!……

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Well its 24hrs later and I bet Denny Hamlin is still celebrating, I know I would be.

Here are my quick thoughts about Sunday’s race.

- Jimmie Johnson is going to be tough to beat

- Montoya had every right to rough up Gordon a bit, he had the faster car and the leaders were pulling away and Jeff was slowing him down.

- I really feel for Carl Edwards, if it were not for bad luck he wouldn’t have any luck at all.  Congratulations to him and his lovely wife on their upcoming addition to the family BTW.

- Johnson didn’t brake-check on that re-start, everyone else went before he did.

- Kyle Busch had a good run, maybe he’ll get some momentum at the end of this season and carry it over into the start of next year.

- At first glance I was wondering what the heck NASCAR was doing by letting it stay green until the checkers with Andretti sitting at the start/finish line but then I realized they put the caution out with the checkers and right at that moment they froze the field. NASCAR let the leaders race for the win and then froze the field.  Makes sense from a competitive point of view, but what if some of the drivers in the back of the pack didn’t see the yellow lights/ flag … whatever … and their spotters were not on the ball?  Could have been serious, but Andretti looked at it otherwise when he stated after the race, “It wasn’t a bad call. To me, I wasn’t in a great position, but I wasn’t in an overly dangerous position.”

I was going to go on a rant about Dale Jr.’s situation but I’ll do that in my next post.

Catch you all later.

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Cementing 2009 as a season to forget for Kyle Busch‘s No. 18 team, crew chief Steve Addington has been let go as the 18′s crew chief, to be replaced by Dave Rogers. Addington will be "reassigned to a position within JGR, which sounds ominous. It’s the latest in a head-spinning series of events over two seasons that have sent Kyle Busch pinballing between the top of the standings and out-of-the-Chase disgrace.

Busch spent much of 2008 as the preemptive favorite to unseat then-two-time champion Jimmie Johnson, but as soon as the Chase began, two straight back-of-the-pack finishes doomed his hopes. He entered 2009 with your classic renewed sense of purpose, humbled by the realization that running well in the summertime doesn’t translate to running well in the Chase.

But even though he posted as many wins — four — as anyone in the regular season, Busch didn’t make the Chase, thanks to a wildly inconsistent checkers-or-wreckers style that saw him running as either the favorite or an afterthought. One season of inconsistency from a talented but still young driver is acceptable; two in a row means heads have to roll.

Interestingly, JD Gibbs addressed this exact point after the race Sunday, indicating that a lot of Kyle’s problems stem from "confidence" – more specifically, the lack thereof. "As far as the Addington crew piece," Gibbs added, "from our standpoint, we just want to make sure we have the right tools, the right people in the right place at JGR. We think we do; we think we have a great group, [from] crew chiefs to engineers to guys on the shop floor across the whole board." Apparently, though, Addington wasn’t the right person in the right place.

Rogers, meanwhile, has spent four seasons crewing the No. 20 on the Nationwide side, and won the Nationwide Owner’s championship with nine victories spread across four drivers. He apprenticed under Greg Zipadelli during Tony Stewart‘s 2002 championship run.

"Dave has proven himself a talented crew chief and we think he will work well with Kyle," Gibbs said in a statement. "We hope that by making the move following this weekend’s race at Talladega they can use the final three weeks of this season to begin working on communication and setups for the 2010 season."

As with Dale Earnhardt Jr., we’ll now see how much of the 18′s problems stemmed from the guy in the box, and how many stemmed from the guy behind the wheel.

JGR Announces Crew Chief Change on No. 18 for Kyle Busch [Joe Gibbs Racing]

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Well its 24hrs later and I bet Denny Hamlin is still celebrating, I know I would be.

Here are my quick thoughts about Sunday’s race.

- Jimmie Johnson is going to be tough to beat

- Montoya had every right to rough up Gordon a bit, he had the faster car and the leaders were pulling away and Jeff was slowing him down.

- I really feel for Carl Edwards, if it were not for bad luck he wouldn’t have any luck at all.  Congratulations to him and his lovely wife on their upcoming addition to the family BTW.

- Johnson didn’t brake-check on that re-start, everyone else went before he did.

- Kyle Busch had a good run, maybe he’ll get some momentum at the end of this season and carry it over into the start of next year.

- At first glance I was wondering what the heck NASCAR was doing by letting it stay green until the checkers with Andretti sitting at the start/finish line but then I realized they put the caution out with the checkers and right at that moment they froze the field. NASCAR let the leaders race for the win and then froze the field.  Makes sense from a competitive point of view, but what if some of the drivers in the back of the pack didn’t see the yellow lights/ flag … whatever … and their spotters were not on the ball?  Could have been serious, but Andretti looked at it otherwise when he stated after the race, “It wasn’t a bad call. To me, I wasn’t in a great position, but I wasn’t in an overly dangerous position.”

I was going to go on a rant about Dale Jr.’s situation but I’ll do that in my next post.

Catch you all later.

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Time for another round of NASCAR fan photos, courtesy of you, the fan! Going clockwise from top left, we start with Sam Snead sneaking us a shot of the drivers in waiting at Champions Week 2007. (Note Smoke’s orange uni.) Next up, Willy Doer caught a shot of the latest in Dale Earnhardt Jr. technology from earlier this year at Bristol. In the lower right, Art Tidesco snapped some fine, if impractical, infield fashion at Talladega last year. And we wrap with a classic neighborly gesture from a beer-tubing fan at Daytona 2006, courtesy of Brandon Bobelak. NASCAR: where fans bond over beer!

Got some NASCAR fan photos of your own? Send them to jay.busbee@yahoo.com and we’ll post them right here for the world to see. Get on it!

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Denny Hamlin took the lead for good on Lap 363 and held off Jimmie Johnson to win the TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. (Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)  – via www.nascarmedia.com

 This is just going to be a quick one for now, I’ll be back later to do a full post.

Denny dominates and Jimmie streches his lead today at Martinsville.  Good runs by both.

If you get a chance go read Denny’s tweets at Twitter and checkout the photo he posted of when he got home after the race!

Alright, I’m outta here but I’ll be back – I’ve got some things to say about the race and about Dale Jr. too.

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There’s something singularly appropriate about a race named for a digestive-relief product being held at a track whose signature is the delicious crime against nature pictured there at right, the Martinsville Hot Dog. (Read all about this delicacy right here.)

If you’re not in a meat coma from scarfing down some of these bad boys, hang here and discuss the race, or come on over to the live chat on the main NASCAR page and we’ll roll there. Race begins a little after 1:30 and ends once Jimmie Johnson takes the lead. So enjoy the Sunday, everybody, and we’ll talk to you soon! Now, let’s go racing!

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Consider this the calm before the storm as many of the ‘Team Twitter’ drivers will be singing a different tune after the aggressive rough and wreck-filled race that it is to come on Sunday. So without further ado you can read the latest right below.

We don’t do ‘jumps’ here. =P

kaseykahne Joey wins 20th woo race of season. What a year for those guys. Glad the rains gone here. Looking forward to tomorrow at martinsville

Kenny_Wallace That crazy Ass brother of mine (Kenny Schrader) is driving his Old Ramp truck with the Modified on back of it from St.Louis to Concord N,C..

MarcosAmbrose Story on speedcafe.com.au about Marcos and JTGD staying with MWR next season – credit to Bob Pockrass and SceneDaily for breaking news 1st

KellyBires Was going to be a good day, everyone on #33 did a good job with adjustments. Were good enough to finish top 5 until the 12 got us. #fb

jpmontoya just watched law abiding citizen!!!!! freaking amazing movie!!!!!!!!!!

mw55 I was sittin on the patio and I sat a lil blue pill down.A hummin bird flew up and took it.I looked up and that bird was chasin a helicopter

Bobby_Labonte Had flu symptoms the past couple of days. Feeling better today. Hope that is behind me.

RyanNewman39 Wish they would have canceled practice before I drove all the way up to the track… http://bit.ly/3ycUsE

With luck, I hope to everyone during the race! Have a great Sunday guys!

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 Jimmie Johnson held off Jeff Gordon to win the NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, his second straight victory. (Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR) via www.nascarmedia.com

The question headed into the race at Martinsville Speedway this week is: “Will Jimmie Johnson tighten his grip on a record-setting fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Championship?”

I don’t care what you say about Johnson, you can’t deny that he dominated the race last week in Charlotte N.C., at the track sponsored by the same company that is on the side of his race car – Lowes.

Johnson started on the pole, won the race, and kicked butt along the way; while other Chase contenders dropped like flies in the wake of Sunoco fumes exiting the tail pipe of his Hendrick-powered car.

Fellow Chase contenders Mark Martin and Juan Montoya had good days compared to some, but they were not championship calibre days.

Johnson’s latest win has sparked a debate about the reigning Sprint Cup champion, as he has won three of the first 5 Chase races.

The Internet is abuzz of whether or not Johnson should win a fourth championship – in a row no less – and how it isn’t/is good for NASCAR if he does.

Johnson’s domination of the championship in previous years, combined with his seemingly apparent domination this year, has polarized fans into two groups; those who want Johnson to win – and those who don’t.

Before I throw my two cents into this argument, let me make one thing perfectly clear. Johnson has not won the championship yet. The Chase is just at its halfway point, and there is a lot of racing still left, including Talladega, where anything can happen.

With that said, let me espouse my not-so-expert opinion; after all I’m just a fan like you, too.

I’m really on the fence here, as I could care less if Johnson wins the championship or not.

It would be great to see Johnson win a record fourth consecutive championship, it would be history in the making for sure.

Other sports have had dynasties, the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s come to mind, so why not NASCAR?

I mean NASCAR has had similar driver dominations in the past. Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon dominated the 1990s with all of their championships, so what is so different about Jimmie Johnson’s performance?

He’s doing it in the Chase, while those other guys did it by the old point system.

So what? He and his team are driving and performing within the current rules, and I’m sure if NASCAR hadn’t switched to the Chase format, Johnson and his team would still be at the top of the standings right now; yes they’re that good.

And if Johnson doesn’t win the Championship at least someone else will be known as the one to break Johnson’s domination streak.

I personally hope if anyone is to do this it will be Mark Martin.

Not a very polarizing opinion here I know, but it certainly is an unbiased one – except for the Mark Martin part.

Now bring on Martinsville and let’s see what happens.

This story can also be found at www.thespec.com.

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Time for more Pit Chatter, the real story of what goes on with your favorite drivers behind the scenes. Today, we dig deep into the 14 car … 

[Scene: Martinsville. Tony Stewart is struggling in fifth place as Jimmie Johnson continues to pile up the laps.]

Tony Stewart: Man, we just cannot catch a break here!

Darian Grubb (on radio): I know, Tony. It’s been a good year, but Jimmie’s just too tough.

Tony Stewart: I suppose you’re right. Well, time to pack it in. Good year, boys.

Darian Grubb: You too, ToKKSSSSHHHHH

Tony Stewart: Darian? Hello? Not another radio problem …

Voice: Hello, Tony.

Tony Stewart: Wha – who is this? What are you doing on my radio?

Voice: You know very well who this is, Tony.

Tony Stewart: Is this the Burger King? I told you, King, I have a strict limit of seven Whoppers in a sitting …

Voice: This isn’t the King, Tony. Think.

Tony Stewart: …oh, no. Is this — ?

Voice: It is. I’m back.

Tony Stewart (whispering): Evil Tony?

Evil Tony: Evil Tony.

Good Tony: But … but what are you doing here, Evil Tony? We’d been doing so well …

Evil Tony: Oh, sure, you’d been doing so well … in the regular season, when nobody cares about the standings. But in the Chase, you’ve got to get plumb mad-dog mean … and Tony, you’ve been lap-dog nice.

Good Tony: That’s a little harsh.

Evil Tony: My name isn’t I-Won’t-Hurt-Your-Feelings Tony.

Good Tony: Point. But everybody’s liking me! I’m having fun!

Evil Tony: Fun? This isn’t about fun! This is about winning, winning and then winning some more! Look at the clowns you hung with in those silly commercials – losers, all of ‘em!

Good Tony: Well, I’ll give you Carrot Top, but Erik Estrada is kind of a winner in an ironic sense, ri-

Evil Tony: Loo. Zer.

Good Tony: Okay, so what do you propose, smart guy?

Evil Tony: Glad you asked. Just sit back and let me handle things.

Good Tony: I’m not so sure that’s a good idea … people like being around me a lot more now.

Evil Tony: Fair enough. Then let’s start by doing something mean AND keeping everyone on your side:

Evil Tony: Ha! Seeya, Kyle!

Good Tony: That was … that was fun!

Evil Tony: It was, wasn’t it?

Good Tony: This is AWESOME! Who’s next?

Evil Tony: What say we keep it in the family?

Good Tony: Yeah! YEAH! This RULES!

Evil Tony: Excellent.

[The race ends, and while Jimmie Johnson wins, Tony has worked his way up to third place behind Jeff Gordon.]

Good Tony: Aren’t we running out of time for the Chase?

Evil Tony: There’s always time for the Chase, Tony. Observe. There’s Jeff Gordon right there. Now, do exactly as I say:

[Tony retreats to his hauler, giggling maniacally.]

Good Tony: All right all right all RIGHT! We are rolling now! So how do we take down Johnson?

Evil Tony: Just you wait, Tony, just you wait …

[Two haulers away, Jimmie Johnson sits in complete darkness, head down, as if unplugged. Then his head snaps up as if hearing something. And in the blackness, his eyes glow a deep red ... ]

To be continued!
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