Nascar Racing Online

Archive for March, 2010

 With any luck Sunday will be filled with a lot of beating and banging on the track. Unfortunately Mother Nature doesn’t look like she will be cooperating. Some of the drivers aren’t expecting to race until Monday. Since I will be working all afternoon tomorrow I won’t be too disappointed if the race is postponed.

jamiemcmurray  Going to bed…just checked the weather and it does not look good.

AJDinger  Think we had two decent practices. It’s going to rain tomorrow so monday we should be good. Off to bowling now.

jpmontoya getting ready for practice, weather looks terrible for tomorrow…

kaseykahne Had two practices today and the car feels good. Not fast though! Not sure what that means for tomorrow. Guess will find out tomorrow.

dennyhamlin  damn hornaday is just dirty

maxpapis  I gave them hell all day and showed my muscle to a top 8 really happy

Good Luck to all the drivers.

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Update:  I moved this to the top of the site but I did add two new posts today, one about Denny Hamlin’s knee surgery and one about Travis Kvapil’s run in with Tony Stewart!

Good morning to you all.  Harvick grabs not one pole but two this weekend at Martinsville, is it a contract year for him or what?

Glad to hear that Pearson and Glotzbach are recovering from their wreck in the Legends race last weekend at Bristol.  Both suffered broken bones with Pearson getting the worst of it (ankle, hip, wrist).  According to what Glotzbach has been told Pearson was knocked out when he hit the wall and that is why he came across the track into the path of Glotzback’s car so fast.  Although as near as I can tell this hasn’t been confirmed just yet.  Regardless, even if he wasn’t knocked out the breaks could have broken with the collision into the wall and that could be the reason why Pearson came across the track so fast too.

So who do you pick for today’s event?

My pick is Ricky Byers.  Well it would be if he could get that elusive sponorship deal, why can’t somebody just step up to the plate and get it done?  If I had that type of coin I would, cancer is a demon of a desease that must be stopped.

Starting line up is after the jump, but it was set by Owner Points due to the rain.

POS	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	SPEED	TIME	BEHIND
1	2	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Tide / Kroger	N/A	N/A	N/A
2	51	Aric Almirola	Toyota	AKawareness.com / Graceway Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	N/A
3	88	Matt Crafton	Chevrolet	Australian Gold / Menards	N/A	N/A	N/A
4	5	Mike Skinner	Toyota	International Trucks / Monaco RV	N/A	N/A	N/A
5	17	Timothy Peters	Toyota	Strutmasters.com	N/A	N/A	N/A
6	30	Todd Bodine	Toyota	Germain.com	N/A	N/A	N/A
7	13	Johnny Sauter	Chevrolet	Curb Records	N/A	N/A	N/A
8	56	Tayler Malsam	Toyota	Toyota / One Eighty	N/A	N/A	N/A
9	15	Johnny Benson	Toyota	Red Top Collector Car Auction	N/A	N/A	N/A
10	14	Rick Crawford	Ford	Circle Bar Truck Corral	N/A	N/A	N/A
11	60	Narain Karthikeyan	Chevrolet	SafeAuto Ins, Co. / Wyler.com	N/A	N/A	N/A
12	4	Ricky Carmichael	Chevrolet	Monster Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A
13	81	David Starr	Toyota	Randy Moss Motorsports	N/A	N/A	N/A
14	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb*	Ford	drivenmale.com / DriverBoutique.com	N/A	N/A	N/A
15	07	Tony Jackson Jr.	Chevrolet	ASI Limited	N/A	N/A	N/A
16	7	Justin Lofton*	Toyota	VisitPIT.com	N/A	N/A	N/A
17	23	Jason White	Dodge	GunBroker.com	N/A	N/A	N/A
18	57	Norm Benning	Chevrolet	Norm Benning Racing	N/A	N/A	N/A
19	3	Austin Dillon*	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Tracker	N/A	N/A	N/A
20	47	Brett Butler*	Chevrolet	Fuel-Doctor.com	N/A	N/A	N/A
21	48	Hermie Sadler	Chevrolet	The Hermie and Elliott Sadler Foundation	N/A	N/A	N/A
22	21	Chris Eggleston	Chevrolet	H2O Fire Protection	N/A	N/A	N/A
23	12	Mario Gosselin	Chevrolet	TireMonkey.com / James Carter Attorney	N/A	N/A	N/A
24	85	Brent Raymer	Ford	Ford. Drive one.	N/A	N/A	N/A
25	39	Ryan Sieg	Chevrolet	S&W Services	N/A	N/A	N/A
26	9	Max Papis	Toyota	GEICO	N/A	N/A	N/A
27	93	Shane Sieg	Chevrolet	S&W Services	N/A	N/A	N/A
28	76	Brian Johnson Jr.	Ford	Super Seal Construction Products	N/A	N/A	N/A
29	52	Ken Schrader	Chevrolet	Federated Auto Parts	N/A	N/A	N/A
30	89	Chris Lafferty	Chevrolet	Blue Ox / Lafferty Performance	N/A	N/A	N/A
31	33	Ron Hornaday	Chevrolet	Longhorn Smokeless Tobacco	N/A	N/A	N/A
32	18	Brian Ickler	Toyota	Toyota Tundra	N/A	N/A	N/A
33	46	Clay Greenfield	Dodge	Team Gill Racing	N/A	N/A	N/A
34	95	Lance Fenton	Dodge	Team Gill Racing	N/A	N/A	N/A
35	6	D.J. Kennington	Chevrolet	Rick Ware Racing	N/A	N/A	N/A
36	01	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	Koma Unwind Chillaxation Drink	N/A	N/A	N/A
Did Not Qualify
37	192	Dennis Setzer	Chevrolet	Fleet AO	-	-	-
38	182	Paddy Rodenbeck	Chevrolet	Green Hills Software	-	-	-
39	106	Dale Brackett	Chevrolet	Brackett Family Motorsports	-	-	-

+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie

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As a kid, open wheel and stock car racing were my passions. I’d plan my spring and summer Sundays around races and even became a big fan of a local realtor’s half hour Sunday homes show because it usually came on right before a race.

Drag racing was off the radar screen. Sure, I read the briefs in the paper the next morning, but until a few years ago, I didn’t start seeking out any NHRA events on the television.

My interest slowly grew, and I had the chance to cover my first drag race at Heartland Park in Topeka last year. I was hooked.

Due to the unseasonably hot weather, no one could make any full length passes down the strip because of the lack of grip, but for this first-timer, that didn’t deter the rush when a car did make it the full 1,000 feet.

And it wasn’t very often when both cars made it down the dragstrip under full power, so I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a fan at the inaugural Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte this weekend.

The NHRA ran a four-wide exhibition last year to rave reviews, so it was a no-brainer to run a full weekend four wide.

If you’re any type of race fan, you need to go to a NHRA event at least once. The Midway may be the coolest thing to experience in the racing world and you don’t need pit passes to be right in the middle of the action.

The haulers and base camps are set up to where you can be within mere feet of one of the cars as they’re being tuned, and if you thought a NASCAR or IndyCar race was loud, you’ve never been on the Midway. The roar of the engines can only be described as deafening and you can see some of the best hair and fashion statements of the racing world as you mill around.

I can’t wait to get back to Heartland Park this year for the O’Reilly Summer Nationals. It sure as heck beats watching it on television.

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Lewis Hamilton drives fast. It’s kind of a prerequisite for being a race car driver. Problem is, he occasionally has a bit of trouble keeping the fast on the track.

While in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton, the 2008 Formula One driver, got a little "over exuberant" — his words — while driving away from Albert Park, the race location, and got tagged by the Melbourne heat. They said he was skidding his rear wheels and impounded his silver Mercedes Sedan. He’ll get it back on Monday.

"I
was driving in an over-exuberant manner and, as a result, was stopped
by the police," Hamilton said in a statement. "What I did was silly,
and I want to apologize for it."

Weak apology, Lewis, very weak. I recommend you go back and watch some Smokey and the Bandit to learn how to deal with the cops.

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You know, when I got asked to preview this trailer I was kind of like, “Oh great here’s someone else trying to shlemp something else on me!”  But honestly after watching it, I can’t wait to see the movie and I’m really looking forward to watching it.

Apparently the option rights to this documentry have been sold to Dreamworks Studios who have plans of turning it into a scripted movie with the same writers who were attached to the Star Trek and Transformers movies. 

Oh and one last thing, the movie is dedicated to Paul Newman (1925 – 2008).  Cool.

Here’s the trailer: 

RACING DREAMS is a poignant and fascinating look at three kids who dream of one day racing in NASCAR.

Academy Award nominated director, Marshall Curry (STREET FIGHT)), takes us into the lives of Annabeth (11 years old), Josh (12), and Brandon (13) as they compete for the World Karting Association’s National Championship.  Clocking speeds of up to 70 mph in extreme racing karts, these young racers hope to follow the scores of great NASCAR drivers who got their start in racing’s version of Little League.

Josh, who started racing when he was five, is bright and focused beyond his years.  He studies both the driving and the interview styles of NASCAR drivers, and he understands that success in this sport requires professionalism above all.

Brandon is funny and charismatic, but his hot temper often leads him into trouble.   He is gunning to win the championship that he lost last year when he was disqualified for rough driving.  With a difficult home life, racing for him is as much of an escape as a passion. 

And Annabeth, the talented daughter of a retired racecar driver, spends nearly every weekend at the track, and struggles to balance a love for racing with a desire to be a regular kid.

As they race their way through the year-long Championship series, they also navigate the treacherous road between childhood and young adulthood.  In intimate, heartfelt moments—some dark, some funny—we see them battle with family dysfunction and economic hardships, celebrate young romance, and struggle to figure out who they are.

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All kinds of craziness at Bristol! Surely you can allow us to listen in on their drivers’ radios. Have at it!

After the jump, Jeff Burton warms up the crowd at Talladega.

Peoplespigskin:
"Feel free to join in on this one…’to dreeeeeam…the impossible dreeeeeeaaam…’"

Mister F:
Burton: Never gonna give you up, Never gonna let you down…
Fans arrive at the track hoping to see Dale Jr. but get Rickrolled.

Jason K:
My fellow constituents, you can clearly see my opponent is not even
trying to hide his endorsement of the Miller Lite lobby, and as your
Senator…

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Let’s see if there’s any way we can put a positive spin on the empty seats at Bristol, one of NASCAR’s legendary tracks and once "the toughest ticket to get in sports." It was because:

The economy’s in the toilet and people can’t afford to make the trip.

It was going to rain, and most NASCAR fans are in fact made of graham crackers and papier-mâché.

Like Laker fans, NASCAR fans are notorious late-arrivers; many are just now getting to the track.

The lines at the bathrooms and concession stands were just brutal, man.

Why were there so many empty seats at Bristol? It’s anybody’s guess, but at least one or two of the above reasons is probably on target. The economy is still rotten, despite the fact that we apparently came out of the recession, technically speaking, sometime last year. I’d imagine that tickets to a NASCAR race fall into what you’d term a "lagging indicator" category — if you’ve suddenly got a few bucks, you’re more likely to sock it away than blow it on a race, at least for the next year or so.

Following from that, then, one could assume that NASCAR will start seeing an uptick in attendance as people’s disposable income grows in the coming months. (That, and the health care bill provides for two free tickets to a NASCAR race of your choice for every American. It’s true.) Everyone’s going to be watching the attendance figures with the same kind of dread that you have when looking at your 401(k).

I know that a certain very loud segment of NASCAR fandom is screaming that it’s Jimmie Johnson‘s fault that fans are fleeing NASCAR, that he’s made the season boring with his dominance. I can agree with the latter sentiment, but not the former. If somebody’s beating your guy, you’re gonna run and hide? Come on!

Anyway, back to the point. The lack of butts in the seats is highly troubling, but I’m taking a long view. I’m hoping this is a temporary setback, and this time next year Bristol is once again packed to the gills. If not, well … I may do something about the 48 myself. Nobody else seems to be able to handle it.

So, your thoughts. How badly are you concerned by the empty Bristol seats? And what do you think caused them? Extra points given for creative answers.

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If the late Bobby Hamilton had a track where you could count on him being in the hunt, regardless of how well or how poorly his season was going, it was the half-mile paperclip in Martinsville, Virginia.

In 23 Sprint Cup starts at the track, Bobby scored eight top tens, six of those being top fives. In April of 1998, he thoroughly dominated the 500 lap event in the famed Kodak Chevy, winning from the pole after leading 378 laps for Morgan-McLure Motorsports’ final Cup win.

He had one other pole, for the fall race in 1996 while driving for Richard Petty. On that day he led 331 laps, but settled for a third place finish.

Those two results both occured in the midst of a ten race strech that began in April of 1994 in which Bobby never finished below 14th. He scored seven of his eight top tens at the track in that span, including one four race stretch where he finished third, second, third, and first. His worst result during that streak was the 14th place finish that closed it out, in October of ’98.

After a couple of lean years, Bobby returned to the front at Martinsville when he joined Andy Petree’s team. In his first race for Petree at the track, he started ninth, led the most laps, and finished fourth. He took 13th place that fall, but that was far from indicative of his performance. A late race dump from then-rookie Kevin Harvick cost Hamilton what seemed like a sure victory and led to a harsh war of words after the race.

In his career, Bobby led 1,091 laps at the track. By comparison, his next highest total was 211 at Richmond. His success at Martinsville wasn’t just limited to the Cup Series, either. In April of 2000, he scored a victory in the Camping World Truck Series race, and he led 577 total laps there in twelve starts. He also made seven NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Martinsville, recording three top-ten finishes.

Bobby’s last start at Martinsville came in October of 2005, where he dropped out after completing 339 laps in the Sprint Cup event.

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So you think today’s drivers are a bunch of milquetoast nancies who drive while sipping their tea with pinkies in the air, do ya? That’s just because you’ve never driven a car at over 160 mph yourself, slick.

Spencer Hall of SB Nation did just that over the past weekend at a little place called Talladega, and he brings us one of the most hysterical and yet terrifying pieces you’ll read all year. It demands total immersion, but here’s his take on what it was like driving at full speed:

Sound is obliterated by your surroundings, sight is limited to a
tiny window in front of you, and all focus is directed to staying on
track and following the line in front of you. A good comparison would be scuba diving at depth going 170 miles per hour. A better
one would be going scuba diving at 170 miles per hour in a car full of
roaring bees.  How drivers do anything but avoid other drivers is
beyond understanding, since at even higher speeds with more on the line
they are prisoners of mechanical circumstance, half-blind conductors of
forty bullet trains all running on the same track.

I will never wonder why drivers wreck in NASCAR ever again. Instead,
I will wonder why they don’t wreck on the first lap at speed every race.

And once he gets out of the car, he discusses his exploits with his colleage Holly Anderson (who, incidentally, contributes to the fine Dr. Saturday college football blog right here at Yahoo! Sports):

"So?"

"It’s like death is in the front seat with you."

"Is he wearing a trucker hat?"

"I think so."

"Ah."

"No, wait. It wasn’t Death. It was the ghost of Dale Earnhardt, and he was smoking a Marlboro Red."

"And telling you, ‘Son, a screaming pansy like you don’t belong in a car like this?’"

"Precisely. That and he thanked the good people at GM Goodwrench at the end."

"Of course."

It’s outstanding work. Make some time to read it today.

The Amateur: Six Laps At Talladega Kicks Off Mustache Weekend [SB Nation]

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