everything was when in fact things weren’t as cheery as His Royal Highness said they were. We’d see at Michigan that the drivers would no longer be able to express their opinions, contrary to what His Majesty had said at Daytona about the “Back to Basics” program. We’d also see that the “Back to Basics” would include the return of Ms Terry DeBris to help manipulate the races and their outcomes.
Probably the biggest Silly Season story so far this season was that of Tony Stewart. After the switch over from Chevy to the Japanese brand by JGR, folks wondered how long Tony would hang on at JGR. Early rumors appeared that Tony would bolt at the first opportunity. And he did, but it took GM buying him out of his contract for him to leave. He then bought into the Haas-CNC operation and will get back to being a Chevy Man once again. We’ll have to wait until next season to see just how this all pans out with Tony being an owner-driver and his return to Chevy.
The second biggest Silly Season story was a carry-over from last year with the move by Dale Jr. from DEI to Hendrick. Dale Jr.’s move to Hendrick Motorsports was viewed by some as a move to “the dark side”. Others viewed it as a way for Jr. to advance his career and finally win a championship. Still others saw it as a way for him to escape from the “clutches of his evil step-mother”. It started off with a bang with a win in a non-points race and pretty much sat there until 76 winless races passed since his last points win. Not exactly a championship season so far and especially considering he’s got two multi-time champions as teammates who aren’t fairing much better than he is this season. Come the end of this season, it’ll be interesting to read/hear the stories which are offered up on his performance.
Rumors still abound about JPM leaving Ganassi after he was heard to complain a lot about all the changes going on at Ganassi and his lack of performance. Will JPM still be at Ganassi come next season? Who knows for sure? Major cutbacks at Ganassi with the closing down of the #40 team and the dismissal of experienced personnel because of the high amount of pay they were receiving lead to some speculation as to whether or not they’ll be around next season or if they’ll be bought up by another Dodge team. Rumors still have JPM taking over Tony’s soon to be vacant ride at JGR.
Jamie McMurray is said to be going from the Roush stable despite denials. But Jack Roush recently gave a clue when he said that 4 of his drivers were going to stay and mentioned them by name, which didn’t include the name of McMurray.
The Shrub and Cousin Carl both started the season off with a bang. Shrub was winning in all 3 series with some controversy. Intentionally spinning somebody out to gain a position wasn’t exactly looked upon in a positive manner by his fellow competitors. It wasn’t exactly given a thumbs up by some veterans or some race fans. Cousin Carl got a couple of wins despite some controversy over a missing oil cap. Since those early season wins, they’ve both been bride’s maids and not the brides until recently when the second Pocono race was won by Cousin Carl.
Despite all the propaganda releases from the Ivory Towers in Daytona, the cost of racing continues to escalate. Everything that Faux King Brian has said would save the teams money has cost them money. The Uni-Car has cost the teams money across the board. The teams lost millions in switching over from the old template racer to the Uni-Car. The cost of the Uni-Car has proven to be more expensive than the old car. The need for specialized cars was supposed to be eliminated. Problems with aero and handling were supposed to be eliminated. Teams were supposed to save a fortune with the Uni-Car. Instead, aero problems have gotten worse. The car doesn’t handle as advertised. The only thing that has lived up to it’s billing has been the safety features. Other than that, it’s been a flop. The car has resulted in racing that has been extremely boring. Races like Bristol, which normally are the best on the circuit, have been reduced to an afternoon nap. Races at cookie cutter tracks, which were boring with the old car have become even more boring with the Uni-Car. The only races which slightly resemble the old races are the restrictor plate races (which weren’t that exciting except for The Big One) and the road races. Drivers, owners, and fans have all complained about how boring the races have been. So much so that Mafia Mike had to tell the drivers to sit down and shut up at Michigan. We don’t need drivers to tell us how boring it is. We know just from what our own eyes see.
The race coverage has been abysmal. High hopes were held with the return of ESPN, only to be dashed by Faux King Brian and his making sure that split screen coverage wouldn’t be used for the commercials. Then when the actual coverage for the season started, it was horrendous. Fox’s coverage was little more than a 3-½ hour infomercial and promotion of NA$CAR’s agenda of promoting Dale Jr., Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, The Diversity Program Poster Boy, and the Japanese manufacturer. The first race by TNT held a lot of promise only to be dashed on the rocks when they returned to their regular self-promotion of TNT and lack of professionalism in the announcing booth. While ESPN had been broadcasting the Busch Series races, their coverage and broadcast talent has been lacking. Jerry Punch, Alan Bestwick, Andy Petree, and Tim Brewer have all been under-utilized or not used to their full capacity. Then we have other broadcast “lack of talents” who are there only to fill quotas or to promote their own self-interests. We still get the same lousy coverage as Fox with the following of the Daytona Dictates on what will be covered and the cheerleading. ESPN’s first Cup race really left a lot to be desired and I don’t see it getting any better through the rest of the season.
The cost of racing has gotten so high that race teams have had to go looking for investors. Roush, Evernham, and Petty all had to find outside sources to keep the money coming in. In the last 5 years, we’ve had at least 30 Busch teams fold up along with at least a dozen Truck series teams. We’ve had a several Busch Series team merge to be able to compete against the Buschwackers. With sponsors being stolen or redirected by Faux King Brian, new teams are having a tough time forming and existing teams are having a tough time continuing their operations in all three series. The dreaded 11 Super Teams is looking like more and more of a reality in the Cup and Busch Series and new teams or single cars teams are looking to become a thing of the past.
Along with the high cost of racing has come the financial woes of the Big 3. Rumors started last season about GM pulling out. And while GM has denied it time and again, they’ve reduced some of their support to various teams. They also announced that they will not have an “at track” presence in the form of track vehicles and advertising like they have in years past. Both Dodge and Ford are reducing their support to their teams. Eventually, the Big 3 could be gone from racing completely, leaving us with either a return to the way things were in the early days when no one had factory support or a spec racing series like IROC or the old ASA. In a recent piece on Autoextremist.com, it was mentioned that one of the Big 3 had already pulled all it’s support for the Truck Series leading to some speculation as to whether or not the one series that still has action will be back next season due to lack of a series sponsor.
The Blame Game is nothing new in NA$CAR, but with Faux King Brian at the helm, it’s become the rule rather than the exception. TV ratings dropped because the races were boring. Track attendance dropped because of boring races and the continued alienation of the race fans. Losses of money from souvenir sales were because of drivers changing teams, not because of poor management, foresight, or direction. Despite the fact that His Royal Highness said that this year NA$CAR was returning to basics, it’s been anything but. Unless you consider the blame game, dropping attendance, dictated TV coverage, the return of Ms Terry DeBris, and low TV ratings to be back to basics. Higher gas prices have been blamed for the drop in attendance. The drivers have been blamed by NA$CAR for the lower attendance and TV ratings because they said the races were boring. Obviously the high ticket prices, alienation of the fans, the poor performance of the Uni-Car, and the races being boring have nothing to do with the low TV ratings and the continued empty seats at the track. It’s everyone else’s fault, not that of His Royal Highness and his henchmen.
Bruton, the Beast of the East, bought Loudon and Kentucky speedways and also inherited the lawsuit appeal that went with Kentucky. Bruton continues to say that the race dates at Loudon are safe and that he’ll get a second date for Las Vegas and a Cup date for Kentucky. But the Emperor of All Things NA$CAR says that Bruton can’t transfer any race dates despite the fact that he said that the dates could be transferred after Bruton purchased Rockingham. The way it’s looking right now, Loudon will still have two race dates next season, Las Vegas will still have one and Kentucky goes without a Cup date. Tying into all of this is the resurrection of the rumor of Bruton starting his own racing series and some insiders in his organization saying it’s going to happen.
The PT Barnum of racing, Humpy Wheeler, looked like a cinch to take over for Bruton when he either died or retired. But Bruton had other plans. Instead of selecting Humpy to take over his empire, he chose his son, Marcus, to assume the throne in a move like the France family. This caused a major falling out between Humpy and Bruton. Humpy decided to retire. The first race in which Humpy was gone showed just how things were going to be in the future. The massive fireworks show, which was a post-race tradition for Humpy, didn’t happen after the World 600.
Despite pleas from fans, drivers, and team owners to make improvements on the Uni-Car, NA$CAR continues to say that the Uni-Car and the racing it delivers is the best there is. Obviously somebody in the Ivory Towers has been drinking too many “sodas”. If the poor TV ratings, lack of attendance, and boring racing isn’t enough to get somebody’s attention that the Uni-Car was an ill-conceived, poorly designed vehicle, then maybe the fact that auto industry insiders are saying that the Big 3 give the generic looking car another reason for pulling out because of the lack of “corporate identity” in the cars might be something to get the attention of the head “soda” sipper in Daytona by their cutting back on advertising and support of NA$CAR.
The Busch Series was supposed to be switching over to their version of the Uni-Car next season but in an apparent moment of sobriety, somebody in the Ivory Towers realized that between the high cost of the Uni-Car and the boring races being produced that maybe delaying the conversion might be a good idea.
Along with the ill-conceived Uni-Car design, a problem with tires continues to linger. The recent race at Indy showed just how poorly the Badyear tires performed. Despite having data from Charlotte after that track had been levitated and the numerous problems there, Badyear and NA$CAR both ignored the levigation of Indy and didn’t conduct any mandatory tire testing resulting in what could best be described as a series of heat races which weren’t nearly as exciting as the heat races at local tracks. With NA$CAR being unwilling to change the steering and suspension points, which would improve the Uni-Car’s handling and tire wear, Badyear is proposing going to a larger tire in two years. Based on current trends of boring races and empty seats, two years may not be fast enough to stop the flow of red ink on the Royal Balance Sheets or the boring races.
Along with this, the question keeps getting asked about the rain tires and why they aren’t used by the Cup teams. The last time they were used in the Cup series, it was at an exhibition race in Japan in which Mike Skinner got his only Cup Series win. Odds are we’ll never see the “premier” series use rain tires because it’s not befitting the image of the series established by HRH, Faux King Brian.
Lawsuits continue to plague NA$CAR. The appeal of the Kentucky lawsuit has yet to play out as Bruton hasn’t played his hand yet since he inherited the lawsuit when he purchased the track. The lawsuit by Ms Grant regarding race and sexual harassment has recently taken an interesting twist as it has been released that she had her driver’s license revoked and yet continued to drive. He lawyer did confirm this fact, but I see it as something to divert attention from Ms Grant’s allegations, which is normal in these types of lawsuits when “dirt” about the accuser’s past is brought up even though it has nothing to do with the lawsuit. I doubt we’ll see anything in the courts on this lawsuit anytime soon.
Despite statements to the contrary, I$C
continues to look to expand the presence of
NA$CAR. They’re still actively pursuing the
purchase of land in Colorado, specifically in the
Denver area, to build a track. Locals continue to
tell I$C and NA$CAR they’re not wanted in the
Denver area. Maybe they need to re-open Pikes
Peak Raceway if they want a presence in
Colorado. Political donations to New York
politicians have yielded nothing in the France
family’s quest to build a track in the NYC area
although there is talk about something in the
Meadowlands in NJ. Not exactly New York, but
this is another thing we’ll have to wait and see
what happens.
And while the media has been focused on the Diversity Program Poster Child, Canadian Ron Fellows and the Tasmanian Devil Marcos Ambrose both got wins under their belts. But as they’re not covered under the Daytona Dictates for Coverage, they barely got a mention for their wins.
I’d like to thank the folks who were a part of the USAFE Threat Training Facility back in the ’80’s for doing something that few others could do and doing it without the recognition you so richly deserved. And to my buddy Paul, “Moo Moo”.
Motherhood, Apple Pie, and John Wayne
Mad Mikie
Curmudgeon at Large
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