In Race Updates - Dega

-getting ready for some green flag 'Dega
-Gibbs out the gate quick.
-Kyle can't be happy. This will be fun to watch.
-the 17 can't get a break can he?
-These guys at the front can't just ride all day can they?
-Didnt even take a full commercial.
-"rude" now that's funny.
-I think I'd be nervous with the 15 behind me too.
-I'm not sure I'd be so concerned about swapping leads.
-this blocking is a little rediculous.
-so what exactly was Kyle Busch thinking?
-jr and tony may put on a clinic now.
-time to hit the grill.
-when did Sadler move up front?
-I think Jr and Denny have something to work out next week on the short track.
-this is a really good race.
-this isn't exactly the list of names I thought would be up front.
-Stremme is gonna make a claim for that seat.
-alright, maybe menard won't have the finish I thought he would.
-Why do we need virtual looks when we have good footage?
-26 to go.
-Why do I have the feeling there's gonna be someone we are not thinking of stealing -this win?
-there goes over half the legit contendors.
-wow!
-well, its off to Richmond.

Oil lids, tires, and the burning Busch

So much has happened since my last entry and I'm not sure where to start. First things first, I've got to say how happy I am that Robby Gordon's Daytona penalty has been rescinded. Sure, he's out another $50k, but if teams could buy 100 points for $150k then you'd see points races in the 10's of thousands.

Speaking of penalties, the oil lid just "came off" did it Jack? Sure it did. And the passenger window clips came loose just enough to let some of that extra heat and possible fumes get out. When you're caught, you're caught boys. The thing that has blown my mind on this whole situation is that the garage has turned into the media's dream. Every single place you can turn there is someone ready to call out the Roush Fenway team. I've never seen anything like it. Last year when the 48 and 24 had their little incident with the body I never heard anything from other teams. Even the team members with their own tv/radio shows skirted the topic. Things are changing in the garage and I'm anxious to see where this is all headed. Obviously the Toyota official that made the initial comments about Jack had his own agenda. He'd previously worked for Rousch as well as currently working for Toyota, a company that Jack Roush likened to the Japanese Kamikaze bombers from Pearl Harbor just over a year ago. However, Elliot Sadler didn't have a real subversive agenda in calling out the Cat in the Hat, nor did Dale Jr. That didn't stop them though.

Speaking of Toyota, Kyle Busch is doing work right now. I think people are making a little too much of the truck, Nationwide, & Cup trifecta. I could name about 10 drivers right now that could do something close to the same. If you can be a solid contender in Cup, you can do the same in all 3 I believe. However, regardless of the type of car Shrub is wheeling his car like nearly no one else. He's the definition of checkers or wreckers. He's so close to the edge that I think he'll go ever several times this year and catch some dnf's, but the risk/reward will pay off in points. The #18 is a contender and there's no other way to put it.

Finally, the big topic of the race was TIRES and the reactions to them. In a tactful way Jr., Gordon, and several other drivers crushed Goodyear with their comments. If that wasn't bad enough Tony Stewart did the equivelent of smacking Goodyear's mother in the mouth and kicking their dog. NASCAR said they wanted the personalities back in the sport and they've got it. We'll have to see how they react to one of their top tier drivers dog cussing one of their top sponsors.

As for the tire itself, I can see the drivers point. No one, and I mean no one, had a handle on their cars. All I've ever heard is how tight the COT is and Sunday it looked like they were driving on snow. Teams saw minimal tire wear at best and nearly everyone tapped the wall once. I understand Goodyear didn't want drivers hauling off into turn 1 at 200mph and popping a right front, but I'm gueesing teams didn't want to be sides ways at 170mph exiting 4 either. Goodyear missed it and they'll fix it, but it'll take more than a week. I heard Jeff Hammond say that Goodyear should start up a full Cup test team that runs year round. When he said it I thought, "That's a great idea." Then after a while I couldn't figure why this hadn't been something already in the works. If they're a non-competitive team they could tire test every track with all 4 makes if they like.

Now for the good news...Here comes Bristol!

The COT is The Car

Rarely do I pray during a NASCAR event. With all the issues in the world and in my life in general I think it’s almost selfish to ask God to take time to help Jr.’s “tight in and loose off” condition. On the rare occasion that I do, it is in fear and shock to what I’m seeing. In the past few years I can think of a few times I have done what could almost be considered begging to the Lord during a race. Labonte’s car on fire at Chicago, Mikey on fire at California, Jr. with a neck brace on lying on a back board at California (I think it was there), Reutimann’s hit at California as well. This past week watching Jeff Gordon smack that wall live I felt a deep dark feeling. I leaned forward and almost in a trance started saying, “Please drop the window net. Please drop the window net. Please drop the window net!” I was genuinely afraid we had lost another legend. Come race day I’m liable to shoot several profanities at Kyle Busch and hope he loses a tire, smacks the wall, bends his suspension, but casually walks out of the infield care center for an interview. It’s fun to root for someone and its fun to have a rival to root against. However, there is no circumstance in the world where I would want to see harm befall any of these drivers. That brings me to the Car Of Tomorrow/Today…the current car.

Thank you NASCAR. The hit Gordon took in Las Vegas was ridiculous. If his angle was a little different, I’m not sure any of the safety equipment could have done a bit of good. It’s amazing that after all this time people still find a way to complain or question this car. The number one fact is that this car is safer for our drivers. “Oh, it drives a little tight?” Really? I bet those dirt cars you drove were a little free. I bet those late models didn’t have the best “front end geometry” in the world. The driver’s are adapting and the crews have adapted fairly well. It just seems like the fans can’t adapt.

Why in the world is anyone having an issue adopting this car? It seems like every COT race I can think of ends with a side by side finish or at least with drama in the finish. Yes there are some runaways, but that will always happen. When I think of the current car I think of Jimmie and Jeff at Martinsville, Burton and Busch at Bristol, and tons of other good finishes. Not to mention some great side by side racing and passing. Carl may have ran off at the end of the Las Vegas race, but that was because Jr. and Biffle were locked in a pretty tight battle for 2nd.

The COT is here and more important than anything else it is keeping these drivers much safer. Not only that, it truly is giving us better racing. The drivers and crews may have to adjust, but as long as the product is better then that’s something those healthy paychecks should take care of.

It gives you wings

There has been a ton of talk over the past 48 hours about David Ragan's Las Vegas finish. While I agree that it is a great improvement, I must also think we need to be weary of jumping to conclusions. When did 1 top 10 become an arrival? Derrick Cope won the Daytona 500 and as best I can tell that didn't exactly spark a memorable career.

My point isn't to take away from Ragan's finish, but to say that in a sport where consistency is king there is someone else that I am becoming thoroughly impressed with.

Brian Vickers.

He has quietly been putting together something rather special. We're 3 races into the 2008 season and even though he has had to qualify on time for all 3 events, Brian has competed in all 3 events. Not only has he competed, he's performed as well. Right now the Red Bull car is setting pretty at #13 in the point standings, which is a ride saving run at this point. Red Bull can't afford to spend another season trying to get into every event on speed and thanks to the #83 they won't have too.

Last year, in a startup team no less, Vickers was the flag ship for Toyota. Sure, Michael Waltrip had the commercials and David Blaney was praised for his consistency, but Vickers was the guy. He averaged 1 position better than Blaney for the year, but more importantly he was in the mix for wins. Until he had a problem in the 600 last year it seemed like he was on a mission to get Toyota its 1st win. If it weren't for the Gibbs switch I had every dollar on the #83 bringing Toyota its 1st Cup points win. While the Busch/Stewart/Hamlin trio may be the odds on favorite to hand deliver a trophy to Tokyo, I'm still not counting out the kid who looks a little too much like the Notre Dame leprechaun...hey, it is March isn't it?

Double Standard

Boy meets girl. Boy and girl begin a relationship. A problem arises that causes them to separate. Boy makes an outrageous attempt to win back girl. In the end everyone's happy. There's a million ways to fill in those details, but at its heart that is the basis for around 492,924 movies. Everyone seems to tell the same basic story a different way.

Yesterday while everyone on air was pining over NASCAR's ruling to allow Carl Edwards to keep his position after his tire rolled across the infield I could help but think, "Has anyone told Robby Gordon about this?" I'm guessing not, because if so he probably would have taken a hard right at the start finish line, drove up the stands, and right up to whichever box NASCAR officials had their throne's positioned.

In essence, Carl's team lost the tire across the infield because someone not paid by RFR was not only in the pit stall, but in the way. As the team pleaded their case the NASCAR officials decided that while the tire that the #99 team was responsible for did in fact roll across the infield, it was something out of their control. I say hogwash, and I don't know if I've ever said that.

Robby Gordon was sent a part by his own manufacturer that looked, smelled, and tasted like the right part. The part actually had the correct part number on it as well, except that one number did not end in a -. If there's no number after the -, then why have the -? Just have another number, but that's another argument. Sure Robby's team should have checked, double checked, and then triple checked...but that works BOTH ways. Do you think that throughout the day that any team up and down pit road used the phrase, "Excuse me kind sir, but we have to make our pitstop now. Could you kindly move yourself back a few steps?" Probably not. My guess is that several crews said, "Get the F@#* outta the way man!".

In my opinion NASCAR made a judgment call yesterday and it was probably the right thing to do. I'd hate to see someone lose a top 5, let a lone a win because some of the tv crew didn't know their boundaries. I just hope the boys at the #7 garage had the tivo going, because NASCAR may have just given them their closing argument for the appeal.

All Wet

Far be it from me to complain about NASCAR making decisions that are way above my pay grade, but yesterday was painful. Delay after delay after delay sucked every drop of momentum out of what was a wonderful Speed Weeks. Think about it. Coming out of Daytona fans had already seen 2 Jr. wins, Toyota become a solid contender, and a very exciting finish to the 50th Daytona 500.

What now?

That's easy to answer...frustration and a lack of caring. NASCAR can control everything from the camber on your tire to where you park your motorcoach, but they can't control the weather. Mother Nature decided to quite effectively rain on everyones parade. It's her right, it has to be frustrating doling out the weather to the entire world...however, it's no more frustrating than watching Fox fill time by trying to get drivers to name that gopher.

Sunday seemed to drag on forever and ever. This is coming from someone who gave up at 11:30pm and refused to set around until 2am to get the official word. It seemed like the track officials weren't ready for this and that is unacceptable. It's your track and it's your job to make the experience everything it can be. However, that's not what I'm wanting to focus on right now. My concern is with the total dissipation of momentum we've now seen.

Everything was wonderful. Ratings were up and the build was on. It was only a couple of days before the 500 that I had realized the annual (and ridiculous) week off after the 500 had vanished. I've always hated it because of the halt it puts on the excitement. Right now a week off seems like a highschool kegger compared to what California has been. Denny Hamlin, Casey Mears, and Dale Jr. were eliminated quickly due to water "weeping" into the track. Couple that with the lifetime of gopher coverage and it's a bad day. Finally throw in the fact that we cut completely away from the race for several hours while they tried to decide what to do and you've got the air let out of the casual fans collective balloon. I'm watching next week. I'm recording the race this afternoon and I'll watch the Nationwide race tonight, but I'm not the fan they're trying to attract...they had me at hello. They're trying to keep the casual fan interested and I believe this weekend was a sucker punch that may have ko'd some people.

500 thoughts

I’m not sure if I’ll have time to formulate a perfect blog entry for the 500, but I want to jump in and address a few things while they’re fresh on my mind.

The gopher cam is garbage. Shhhheeewwwww, I’ve been dying to get that off my chest. I spent my day with several family members watching the race and the gopher cam became the running joke of the day. If we were drinkers, I’m sure it would have quickly become a drinking game…and speaking of drinking…

AMP is undrinkable swill. I’m a fan, I do my part, I picked up a can, and then proceeded to attempt sips at this medicine like energy drink. I’ll admit, it does cause an increase in energy. If I were paralyzed and bed ridden, I can guarantee that this drink is enough to make me get up, walk over, and drop it in the garbage can.

On to some more positive notes.

I realize that for the most part of the race the 18 and the 11 were stinking up the show, but the rest of the field were all over each other. I thought it was a fairly enjoyable 500 and didn’t find myself bored at all. However, I had been dying for some competitive Cup racing and may have been blinded by finally getting it. We had a great finish and overall I had a great day watching it.

Congratulations to Richard Penske. I’m not a Newman fan and dislike Busch, but I am extremely happy for Penske to finally get a Daytona 500. Roger is a legend in the racing world and it would bother me if his time eventually passed without a 500 win. Just as it bothers me that Mark Martin is winding down and looks to retire without one as well.

I’m waiting for the influx of Hendrick hatred to begin. Jeff had a suspension issue, it happens. Jimmie just seemed off, but looked as though (like usual) they had worked the car to a decent finish before he was wrecked. I truly believed Casey was on his way to a top 3, if not a win, just seconds before he was turned into the wall. As for Jr., a ninth place finish after some questionable (at best) pit strategy is a fairly good save. If people want to read too much into Sunday, that’s fine, but HMS isn’t going away.

Great days for Reed Sorenson, MWR, and GEM. I also have to say that Sam Hornish Jr. really impressed me with how he paced his race out. It’s just one race, but don’t be shocked if he doesn’t walk away with rookie of the year.

Overall it was a very good start to the year and I can’t wait for California. I’m so happy that we don’t have the week off that we’ve had the previous years. Let’s get to racing and stick with it. If any break is needed I would think it would be the week prior to the Chase starting, but that’s a whole other blog all together.

Oversaturated? No. Over covered? Yes

To understand the myth of Dale Jr. oversaturation one will have to understand smart business practices. Do you ever wonder why ESPN rarely shows the Seattle Mariners, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, or even the White Sox on a regular basis? However, it seems as though weekly they televise a Red Sox or Yankees game. The reason behind this is pretty standard. The Yankees have the largest fan base in all of baseball followed by the Boston Red Sox. This is very significant to tv ratings across the country. Everyone is expected to draw viewers in their market, but these 2 teams span ALL markets. For example, in Kentucky there is a heavy saturation of Cincinnati Reds fans. Even so, there are healthy amounts of Yankee and Red Sox fans (amazingly no Kansas City Royals fans).

My point? Regardless of what you think about his driving ability, Dale Jr. has by FAR the largest number of fans in NASCAR. It's not debatable, it's fact. I'll also admit that a lot of these fans don't delve deep into the sport and just care about "their guy". So news outlets know that in order to draw interest to their print, tv, radio, and internet option that they need to cover Jr heavily to improve their user base.

Right now some people are wrongly holding this coverage against Jr. In the past several months Jr has done very minimal appearances and interviews. I know it doesn't seem that way, but set back and think about it. How much have you heard from the driver of the #88 and compare it to the amount of ridiculously shallow topical coverage from the media. When there is news I, as a fan, need to hear it. The thing is, there's been no news. Once Jr. said he was leaving, that was about all you heard from him. However, every radio show and media person went on and on and on and on and on about where he would sign. Then he signed and we heard from Jr. Then it was media coverage going on and on and on and on about numbers...then sponsors...then wait, that's it. Dale Earnhardt Jr. "news" dried up. He's had no real "announcements". He's had no major developments. That's the biggest problem I think he's had. Stopping creating news hasn't stopped Sirius, XM, Rowdy, nascar.com, Nascar Scene, Speed Channel, ESPN, etc from needing to attempt to bring in that massive Jr. fan base. So we've had 3 good months of the same old information hashed and rehashed continually. I know I'm sick of it myself, I could just imagine how someone who's not a Jr. fan would feel. Really...how many times do we need to discuss the following?

• "How's he going to fit in?"
• "What's he learned from Jeff and Jimmie?"
• "What's Jeff and Jimmie learned from him?"
• "What's the difference between DEI and HMS?"

Here it is in short...He's going to fit in fine. If there is going to be "ego" problems, it's something we won't see until MUCH later in the season. The season hasn't started and until a few test days last week the amount of time anyone has had to "learn" anything has been far too short. As for the difference between DEI and HMS? 6 Championships.

Let's move on.

In my mind Junior is far from oversaturated. He's got a massive legion of fans dying to hear from him and dying for new information. Has the coverage of Jr. been a bit much? Yes. However, that's on the people covering the #88. There is only so many ways that the same small news bits can be covered and stretched into 3 months of waiting for the season. I think we've all had our fill of it and tomorrow that all stops.

Finally, I’m getting excited

So far this off season I’ve been somewhat detached from NASCAR. Sure, I check rowdy and several other places to keep up on the happenings. I spend my evenings calling and making funny comments to my stepfather about his Japanese alliances (He’s a Tony fan.). I catch some pre-season thunder on Speed and while I’ve been excited about Jr’s move to Hendrick, it’s not really set in yet.

Until now.

Just because of pure pride I was ecstatic to see the #88 on top of the speed charts in Daytona. However, even as big of a fan as I am I wasn’t ready to hand over the title just yet. It’s Daytona. Steve Hmiel once said Jr could take a John Deer tractor to a top 10 finish at a plate track and that’s probably pretty accurate. While I’m still not ready to engrave Dale Earnhardt Jr on the inaugural Sprint Cup Trophy I have elevated my expectations tremendously.

The fact is that Jr is garbage at Vegas, at least how it was traditionally configured that is. Even the new configuration has given him some issues. The progressive banking is similar to Homestead where his finishes have left something to be desired as well. That looks as though it is starting to change after setting 8th on the speed chart in both the a.m. and p.m. test sessions yesterday. In my mind it has shown me that the extra resources are already making a difference. Most importantly, you can see a bounce in Lil’ E’s step. When he speaks there seem to be tons of passion, emotion, and hope in his voice. Something is different and I think more than anything it is that a huge weight has been lifted from his shoulders.

He’ll always have the weight of his father’s legacy on him. Similarly he’ll also carry the weight of being the poster boy for the sport, for being the most popular driver, and for being despised by some for the amount of coverage he receives. I think that’s enough to carry for any one person, but being at DEI he had so many more crosses to bare. He was the figurehead and with Thereasa keeping herself out of the spotlight as much as possible, he was the spokesman for the entire company. Now he’s a driver and regardless of what some think…the boy can wheel a car. Now he can apparently wheel it at Vegas. Now I’m excited.