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Archive for the ‘From the Marbles’ Category

Sometimes, life is like a country song. Or a William Faulkner novel, whichever.

There’s so much southern gothic in this story that we’re not even sure where to begin, but let’s start here: Michael Lynn Sherer was nabbed in Hampton, Georgia near Atlanta Motor Speedway after trading a gun for tickets to Sunday’s Emory Healthcare 500 NASCAR race.

Oh, but it doesn’t end there. Turns out Sherer is an escaped fugitive, on the run from a murder charge. And when he was nabbed by Hampton police, he used the murder victim’s name as his own alias. That, friends, is cold-blooded. 

The story, in more detail: Sherer had apparently escaped from the Winston County (Ala.) jail, where he’d been held on charges of killing Thomas Lynn Smith of Jasper, Ala. in Smith’s home following a break-in.

Sherer apparently made it from Winston County to Hampton, a distance of more than 250 miles, in a van he’d allegedly stolen prior to the murder. At the Atlanta Motor Speedway, he drew attention from vendors setting up for this weekend’s race as he tried to pawn off a .22 caliber pistol — one which allegedly belonged to the victim.

When police approached him, he initially used his victim’s name, but difficulty answering questions like "when were you born?" led police to take a little more interest. Not long afterward, he gave up his real name, and that was that. He’s currently awaiting extradition to Alabama.

About all this story needs now is a Johnny Cash-esque ballad to be written about it. It’s all right there for the taking.

(Photo via WSB-TV 2 and Henry County Sheriff’s Office.) 

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Racing and environmentalism go together about as well as mashed potatoes and chocolate, or so the conventional wisdom holds. The NASCAR infield and the Green movement have, shall we say, divergent constituencies. But one driver, at least, is doing her best to bring the two sides together.

ARCA driver Leilani Munter, pictured above left with the Atlanta Falcons‘ Ovie Mughelli and former NFL’er Mike Alstott at the Gulf Coast, is hard at work trying to bring attention to environmentalism. It’s a tough road — NASCAR, with its vehicles driving hundreds of miles in a circle, is the lazy thinker’s whipping boy for anti-environmentalism — but Munter is doing her part to open a few eyes, as a current CNN profile of her efforts reveals.

Still, sponsorship has been difficult to come by. "It used to be that a woman with everything going on that Leilani has going on could get a bunch of sponsors," said ARCA team owner Mark Gibson, who wants to run Munter in several races next season. "But right now, there’s a lot of uncertainty with the economy."

Another problem: Munter is, at present, a race-car driver in only the most generous sense of the term. She ran a few laps at Daytona this year before getting caught up in a wreck, and that’s been that so far. 

Munter’s goal is to raise awareness by putting a message on her hood. But she got a taste of what it will be like when her Daytona sponsor, Native Energy, dealt with consumer criticism for its choice to sponsor a NASCAR ride. Thomas H. Rawls met criticism head-on, writing on the company’s blog, "Ultimately … I asked myself: How does Native Energy reach people who are not already converts on the issue of climate change? Anyone who is engaged in any broad effort to speak to the public faces this question: Do I talk only to friendly audiences, or do I face the doubters and the hostiles?" To his credit, Rawls — and, of course, Munter — doesn’t simply preach to the choir.

Munter is taking several proactive steps — she gives 10 to 15 speeches a year at environmental conferences, and purchases an acre of rainforest for each race she runs. She hopes to return to the track in late September in Kansas, but before then, she’s got plenty of environmental preaching to do. 

Good for her for bucking the tide; regardless of political affiliation, NASCAR fans have to at least admire someone who doesn’t go along to get along. And if nothing else, this ought to show that NASCAR isn’t a monolithic conservative bloc. That makes for easy stereotyping, but it’s got little relevance to the truth.

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Juan Pablo Montoya will be sponsored by Huggies this weekend at Atlanta, and quite honestly, this may be the most appropriate new sponsor entry into the Sprint Cup Series in a long time. JPM and his wife Connie just welcomed their third child amidst the continuing Sprint Cup baby boom. No word if expectant father Jamie McMurray will get free diapers for being Montoya’s teammate.

– After the separation of John Wes Townley from Richard Childress’ Nationwide team, veteran Morgan Shepherd has been driving the No. 21 in the remaining unsponsored races and Childress and Shepherd struck a deal Tuesday that keeps Shepherd in the car for more races this season. It also allows Shepherd to potentially have the owner’s points — a valuable commodity given that the car would be locked into the first five races of 2011 — next year.

– In that same link, it’s noted that Paul Tracy will be making his return to ovals in the Izod IndyCar Series. Tracy has run some road courses this season and failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. He’ll be in the No. 24, subbing for the injured Mike Conway who was hurt in that brutal crash in the final moments of the 500.

– Elliott Sadler told Sirius’ Dave Moody that he’d have an announcement on his future plans in two to three weeks. Sadler also said that he was talking to an existing Cup team that was looking to expand. That would be a mighty quick expansion.

– And in the news that everyone has been waiting for, Kevin Conway is back in the Sprint Cup Series for the rest of the season. Conway, who has locked up the Raybestos Rookie of the Year by virtue of being the only rookie on the circuit, will drive the No. 7 for Robby Gordon Motorsports. And yes, ExtenZe will continue to be his sponsor.

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This year’s race to the Chase has been a relative snoozer, but given that the Chase itself looks to be incredibly wide-open, isn’t that more than a fair trade-off?

Points leader Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon have already clinched their spots in the Chase, so if they were so inclined, they could skip Atlanta and Richmond and show up at New Hampshire refreshed and ready to go. And if all goes well for the nine drivers behind them in the standings, they could join Harvick and Gordon relaxing on Lake Norman for the Richmond race, no matter what the rest of the field does.*

Here are the scenarios for those nine drivers, and it’s safe to say that Kyle Busch will clinch by Lap 40.

Kyle Busch: Busch needs to finish 40th or better if he doesn’t lead a lap, 42nd if he leads one lap, or 43rd if he leads the most laps. Easy.

Carl Edwards: Here’s where it gets close. Edwards needs to finish 21st if he doesn’t lead a lap, 23rd if he leads one and 25th if he leads the most. Very doable given his Atlanta history.

Denny Hamlin: Hamlin needs to finish 20th with no laps led, 22nd with one lap led, or 23rd with the most of the laps led.

Tony Stewart: A 19th-place finish with no laps led clinches it for Smoke, while 21st with one lap led or 23rd with the most laps led gets the job done, too.

Jeff Burton: Burton needs to finish 17th if he doesn’t get to the front, 19th if he leads a single lap, or 21st if he leads the most.

Matt Kenseth: Kenseth needs a top 15 if he doesn’t lead a lap, 17th if he leads one, or 19th if he leads the most.

Jimmie Johnson: Vader’s got to get a top 10 without a lap led if he wants to clinch at Atlanta, 11th with a lap led, or 13th with the most laps led.

Kurt Busch: Busch’s scenario is nice and orderly: 9th if he doesn’t lead a lap, 10th with a lap led, and 11th with the most laps led.

Greg Biffle: Biffle’s is the most farfetched of any of the possible clinchers, but given the way that he’s been running on the bigger tracks lately, it’s feasible. Biffle needs to finish 4th with no laps led, 5th with a lap led and 7th with the most laps led.

There’s no scenario for Clint Bowyer to clinch by himself at Atlanta, but it’s also possible that Bowyer could lock into the field. Bowyer leads 13th place Jamie McMurray by 100 points, and if Bowyer can gain 96 points on McMurray and 95 points on Mark Martin, he’s in the 2010 Chase without having to worry at Richmond.

*No, no one will be even thinking of skipping the Richmond race.

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Sunday’s Nationwide race at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was one of the best of the season, road-course grace combined with some good old-fashioned all-out racing.

And chances are, most NASCAR fans missed it. Which is a shame, because in addition to being a fine race, the Montreal track is a fine locale. And that, at least according to Racin’ Today’s Jim Pedley, is why Montreal needs a Sprint Cup-level race.

Hey, I’m for it. Why not, eh?

Anyway, here’s what it would mean: a third road course, a top-line NASCAR presence in Canada, and — not inconsequentially — the removal of one current race from the Sprint Cup slate. That there is the stumbling block: Since the track isn’t owned by either of the monolithic track organizations, that means somebody’s gotta lose a race with no tit-for-tat recompense.

So for the sake of argument, let’s kick this around. Who’s got two races and could realistically lose one? Phoenix and Michigan, but they’re International Speedway Corp. tracks, which means they’re inviolate. Loudon, but no way Speedway Motorsports is giving up one date without a tradeoff. (Maybe moving the season-ender from ISC’s Homestead to SMI’s Vegas?) Pocono is an easy candidate, but what’s the incentive for the Mattioli family to give up one of their two dates? I love the idea, but at the moment, given the intransigence of NASCAR track politics, I can’t find a way to make this work.

And so I turn it over to you. Put a Sprint Cup race in Montreal in 2012, folks. Figure a way. 

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What has Marcos done to make the gods at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve mad?

Ambrose had the fastest car in the early stages of Sunday’s Nationwide race, but was ultimately felled by alternator problems. It was just another bad result for Ambrose, who’s quickly becoming to the track in the middle of the St. Lawrence River what Dale Earnhardt was to Daytona before breaking through in 1999.

In 2007, Ambrose got into Robby Gordon as the two battled for the lead and Gordon returned the favor while ignoring NASCAR’s orders to move back in the field as Ambrose was leading, potentially costing Ambrose the win.

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That was worth the four-hour race time, that’s for sure.

Boris Said used a crossover move in the final chicane at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal to win Sunday’s Nationwide race by a fender over Max Papis.

Papis drove the car in incredibly deep after the long straightaway, passing Said as the two entered the chicane. But since Said’s entry wasn’t nearly as deep, he was able to get off the second corner better and beat Papis to the stripe to get his first NASCAR victory.

"It was just unbelievable," Said told ESPN in victory lane. "I didn’t know I won because I didn’t have a radio at the end."

Papis, who was racing the No. 33 for Kevin Harvick Inc., said that if he couldn’t win, he was glad that Said did.

"First, congrats to Boris. If I couldn’t win, he deserved the win," Papis said.

"I gave everything I had. I believed until the last corner. I really outbraked him really hard and it came down to the last corner. I did all I could, I went through the gears, barely hit the chip in second gear … This is what I can do in a good car and I’m really proud."

Jacques Villeneuve, driving on the track named for his father, finished third for Braun Racing.

Neither Said nor Papis were leading on that final restart, however. Robby Gordon, who still claims he won the 2007 race at Montreal, was leading, but since he pitted before everyone else, ran out of fuel with two laps to go.

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I’m sure that many of you are sick of reading about Kyle Busch, but face it, the man is on a roll in NASCAR-sanctioned events right now. (Other events, notsomuch)

After taking four tires in the pits, Busch charged from sixth to first on a restart with 22 laps to go and pulled away from Todd Bodine on a green-white-checker restart to win the Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland.

Bodine had a shot at Busch with seven laps to go as he got alongside of Busch in turn three. However, Busch had the outside line and Bodine had to get off the gas.

And Bodine’s second place finish allowed him to further extend his points lead in the Truck Series. It’s not Brad Keselowski-esque (313 points over second place Carl Edwards), but Bodine is doing his best to make the 2010 race for the title a snoozer. He leaves Chicago 236 points ahead of second place Aric Almirola with eight races to go.

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Kyle Busch, basking in his own awesomeness. Surely you have some commentary for this scene. Come on, you’ve had a week to build up your Kyle bile. Have at it!

After the jump, Carl Edwards‘ little girl makes her NASCAR debut.

Vaffanculo:
Edwards celebrates his win at the first Cabbage Patch 350.

Janine R:
Carl: "Don’t worry Kate, nobody is going to punch a man holding a baby."

tx_jjk:
Annie: Mommy, I just spit up all over Brad Keselowski
Mom: High five!!
Carl: I’m so proud of my girl.

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Before heading to Chicago for the TRAXXAS TORC Series off road race, Kyle Busch was in Kansas City for a go-kart race with fans and media where he got put into the wall on the first lap.

He made it further in the TRAXXAS race Wednesday evening, but not by much. Busch’s rear suspension broke on the second lap and he finished last.

From SPEED:

Even though Busch didn’t get the result he wanted, he still enjoyed the experience.



"It’s fun," said the driver who swept NASCAR’s three national series
races last week at Bristol Motor Speedway. "I enjoy going out there and
going out to the sand dunes and messing around and jumping some stuff
out there.



"Anytime you can put a big heavy vehicle up in the air like that, it’s
always cool. For myself, running the Traxxas TORC Series PRO 2s, it’s
fun."

Busch is competing in Friday night’s Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, and now that he’s gotten all of the bad luck out of his system Wednesday, he’ll probably go out and dominate Friday.

Or, if the pattern continues, have to retire on lap three.

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