a person who came out of the Marketing Dept, who has admitted to not knowing much about the sport, actually running the whole thing. Will the double file restart really work or is it just another gimmick to divert attention from the real problems? You decide.
The double file restart is going to be used in all 3 series. According to X-Ray (Ray Dunlap of Speed), once they implement the double file restart in the Truck Series, they will be going back to the regular gas and tire pit stops instead of the two lap trash they have right now.
What are some of the past gimmicks NA$CAR has used? Well, there’s the Chase for the Chumps, the Top 35, Ms Terry DeBris cautions, missing lug nuts that weren’t missing, speeding penalties on cars that weren’t speeding, cars failing tech inspection that were legal, cars that were illegal passing tech inspection, tires that are useless, juggling rules to give an advantage to certain makes of cars, ignoring illegal engines from certain makes of cars, outlawing engines that were never raced, and I’m sure there are some that I’ve forgotten. Remember, ignore the man behind the curtains and be completely awed by the smoke and mirrors.
Since Pocono is over, just how exciting did the double file restart make the race? And be honest. Did it help make the race so exciting that you sat on the edge of your seat throughout the whole thing or did you go and do something more exciting, like mow the lawn, go to the mall, or take a nap? If they want to make Pocono and Michigan more exciting, NA$CAR needs to bring back real transmissions and rear end gears so the drivers can shift again. At least there was always the potential of a blown engine or transmission to liven things up without any outside manipulation needed. But as we keep moving closer and closer to a spec series, it’s becoming like the paper strip across the hotel toilet seat; Sanitized For Your Protection.
I’m not sure what honky tonk they found that gal who butchered the National Anthem for the Truck race down in Texas, but she should’ve stayed there. And a word to The Onion, James Beuscher, and Brian Scott’s crew; Put your hand over your heart during the National Anthem and pay the respects to our flag it deserves. The flag is bigger than you are you’re not bigger than the flag no matter what your publicist may tell you.
Congrats to Matt Crafton for being in a position he’s never really had before; leading the points in the Truck Series. The Top 10 has a 189 point spread, which is closer than the Cup Series is right now. Definitely not the usual suspects leading either series at this point.
If I were Gibson Guitars, I’d be telling both Shrub and NA$CAR to stick it for ruining a one of a kind guitar. Having spent about half my life as a musician, it pained me seeing that guitar being torn apart. He could’ve easily have auctioned it off and given the funds to Sam Ard or Carl Long or a children’s charity to help them out of their financial situations. He could’ve looked like a hero and further baffled a lot of people. But instead, he holds true to form and will get some flack over his demolition of a priceless piece of art and craftsmanship. I’d hate to think what he’d use the Shroud of Turin or a Picasso or the Statue of David for.
You could tell Brendan Gaughan was hot under the collar when Marc Davis went to pull behind the pit wall and Gaughan ran into him. It’s not very often that something like that happens but it does. Gaughan was able to keep a civil tongue in his head but you could’ve cooked a full breakfast on his head as hot as he was.
As usual, the Cup drivers managed to stink things up in the Cup Lite race. Congrats to Left turn Leffler on being the top Cup Lite regular not associated with a Cup team. Morgan Shepherd was actually up to 8th place during a green flag run. Unfortunately, he ended up finishing 17th. Still that’s a big improvement over days gone by. With the Camry of Tomorrow II, The Sequel, coming to the Cup Lite Series, you have to wonder how many teams will fold because of the high cost of conversion. Another way to force out the little guys in a series that’s supposed to be for the little guys. Can you say “franchise opportunities”?
Don’t get your hopes up too high about the quality of the TNT broadcast. They started out the same way last season. A pretty decent broadcast on their first race and then it went downhill from there with the All New Fall Line-up. I was surprised to actually see a “Through the Field” that went beyond 10 cars. The cheerleading wasn’t nearly as bad or blatant as Focks. Jabber Jaws' parrot seems to be in a position where he’s much better off. Less yammering, shilling, and cheerleading. The main announce booth controlled Jabber Jaws' parrot and not the other way around. Now if they’d bring in Eli Gold and get rid of Webhead, they might have something approaching a really good broadcast.
NA$CAR has now filed a countersuit against Jeremy Mayfield for breach of contract, and a couple of other things. This is NA$CAR’s way of trying to get Mayfield to drop his lawsuit and to further punish Mayfield by making him spend more money on the legal system. By having the case moved to a Federal Court, they also further delay the proceedings and tie up Mayfield even longer. If Mayfield is innocent, as he claims he is, I hope he ends up owning a certain testing lab and Faux King Brian’s brand spanking new NYC castle or a big chunk of NA$CAR. When this is done and over with Jeremy maybe you should write a book about your career and everything that really goes on in NA$CAR that folks don’t hear or know. I know I’d buy a copy.
Congratulations to Robby Gordon on winning the Baja 500. You have to wonder how it is that Robby can win Baja, finish in the Top 10 in the Dakar Rally, and race as many things and races as he does and yet his name is rarely mentioned in print much less on TV. I was surprised that TNT actually made mention of it and that it was on Jayski. Back when I was growing up, AJ Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Mario Andretti, and Dan Gurney would race just about everything with 4 wheels on it and their names were all over the sports section of the newspaper or in magazines plus made the evening news. Robby’s lucky to get a paragraph on a lamestream media web site, if that. So Robby, we may not be the biggest or get the most hits, but we at least recognize you for your accomplishments more so than “the big boys“.
Possible legal problems for Rick Hendrick? It seems that his name has popped up in an on-going investigation into the activities of former NC governor Mike Easley. Apparently Easley penned several pieces of legislation that were to the benefit of the racing community, including a tax break on parts and aviation fuel for the team aircraft. It also possible that Hendrick may have given the former governor a few things he shouldn’t have in exchange for some favorable racing legislation. Considering that he was convicted on a federal mail-fraud charge before which involved him bribing Honda execs, being put on house arrest for a year, and then purchasing a Presidential Pardon for $350,000 from Bill Clinton to clear his name, you have to wonder what’s going to happen if he is indicted, tried, and found guilty of something like influence pedaling, bribery, or something else along those lines. I guess we’ll know more as the investigation progresses. As Money talks and BS walks, Hendrick may not be charged at all and may only be found guilty of showing poor judgment. I wonder why you won’t find this story on E$PN.COM, NA$CAR.COM, OR FOCKSSNORTS.COM since it involves a rather prominent team owner and the racing community in general?
And if you’re wondering why the race teams would get a break on aviation fuel, besides the obvious legislation to their benefit, it might have to do with the number of aircraft they own. From what I was able to research, the race teams own about 40 aircraft of various sorts, from simple helicopters up to the 727’s (commercial airline sized aircraft) operated by Roush. I may have missed a few that didn’t have an obvious race name connected to them and some that may be registered outside of the state of NC, but that’s as many aircraft as some regional airlines have. Imagine how big of a revenue loss that is to the NC treasury.
There was also a piece of legislation signed by Easley which gives the race teams a tax break on car parts which cost NC several million a year in lost revenue. The average consumer in NC doesn’t get these sorts of tax breaks on the car parts they buy. Why should the race teams?
In case you’re not familiar with the National Stock Car Racing Commission, it has been, for years, little more than a “rubber stamp” organization which does nothing but say to offenders, “Pay up Bubba” and continues the normal kangaroo court system which is NA$CAR‘s way of ruling things. In the old days under Big Bill, after an appeal’s verdict was rendered in it’s normal kangaroo court fashion, Bill Sr. would sometimes pull offenders into his office for a little chat and let them know that the fine didn’t need to be paid or a smaller amount was acceptable. Especially when it came to low budget operations or drivers that Bill Sr. liked. Fast forward to Carl Long’s appeal. You can bet that there is no way on God’s green earth that Mafia Mike or Faux King Brian would pull Carl aside and tell him he didn’t have to pay the fine or to pay a lesser amount. Why? Greed, ego, being on a power trip, or all of the above. Whatever you want to call it, this decision makes them look little better than schoolyard bullies. Which might explain a few things since His Majesty was probably plagued by them as a Prince and was beaten up in the school yard more than once.
And speaking of this engine debacle, some more info has come to my attention. It seems that the engine was formerly a test stand engine for Ganassi Racing before it was returned to Ernie Elliott. So you know it had the bejesus run out of it. This explains a lot with the engine being out of specs, even after it was rebuilt. You know the cylinder walls had to be screwed up and the block should’ve been scrapped and not re-used because of heat damage and stress to the metal. I’m all for enforcing the rules but I’m also for using some common sense too, and in Long’s case, you know common sense didn’t prevail. If you want to help Carl out and make a donation to help pay off the fine, you can send them to:
Carl Long
156 Painted Bunting Drive
Troutman, NC 28166
On his web site, www.carl-long.com , you’ll find a list of donations and who sent them. At the top of the list, none other than Roto-Reutimann and a donation of $5,000. Maybe a few of the high dollar, big buck drivers who can afford to cough up some really big bucks and show their support for Carl, need to step forward and show that there really is a “family” in the garage area.
And speaking of Carl, did anyone pay attention to what he said about franchising? 2010 is when NASCAR is supposed to be reviewing the franchise idea as well as the introduction of the Camry of Today II, The Sequel, to the Busch Series and the smaller engine for the Cup cars. What better way to ensure that the franchising deal goes through than to get rid of all the loose cannons (small teams) and ensure you have 11 mega-teams. I know, it sounds like a Twilight Zone episode, but think about how much money Faux King Brian stands to make off of the franchising deal. You know the contracts will be weasel-worded to ensure NASCAR gets their pound of flesh leaving the teams with scraps. NASCAR will control the sponsors and sponsorship money more so than they do now. And if you thought driver access by the fans was hard before, don’t be the least bit surprised when you have to start paying a hefty admission price to get into an autograph session with no guarantees you‘ll even get an autograph. Be careful what you wish for, you may get it. Thanks for reminding me Marybeth.
On Wind Tunnel, Carl brought out a good point before he started sweeping up the Wind Tunnel stage with a push broom to make some extra cash. How can a non-points event be governed the same way a point’s event is and have the same penalties? The engine wasn’t run in the actual event. It came apart in practice. The last time somebody got nailed for an oversized engine was when The King got win #198 and it was a $35,000 fine and he got docked about 135 points. So the fine got increased over 5 times in value? I guess somebody’s got to help pay to keep His Highness in crayons at the rate he keeps eating them.
Is it just me or is JGR too embarrassed to post any pictures of the Sam’s Club sponsorship, which is carried on the TV panel of Shrub’s car, or even have them listed on the web site as an associate sponsor?
For those who weren’t paying attention, Roger Penske owns the Saturn dealership system. He doesn’t own the manufacturer. That’s still owned by Government Motors. He’s currently in discussion with GM and some foreign manufacturers about producing the car. If Roger should happen to bring Saturn to Cup racing, he better create a decent V-8 production car or SUV first so there will be some power plant to base the race car on. Right now, he’s talking about maybe the Rolex Series.
"I think they're going to go look into the engines -- to maybe reduce horsepower," Denny Hamlin says.
I guess Denny Hamlin either didn’t get the note or wasn’t paying attention when His Royal Highness first announced the Crusty Old Toilet was coming and its timeline. 2010 is when the engine down-sizing is supposed to take place per the Royal Ministry of Propaganda. It seems that some folks in the garage are as giddy as little school girls over some of the rumors NA$CAR is spreading regarding changes to the BOW WOW. Until you actually see something in writing from His Majesty, it’s all speculation as to whether or not there will be changes. I’ve made my suggestions time and again. Other fans have made their suggestions too. Let’s see if any changes really happen that actually improve the racing. Until then, it’s all speculation.
And speaking of crying wolf, folks are still going on and on about Danica. Unless you actually see either photographs or a televised press conference with her signing a contract on live TV the way the WWE wrestlers do for a big event, she’s not coming to NA$CAR. I got a chuckle out of some writers comparing Jr. to Danica or vice versa. First, Jr.’s been racing longer than Danica has. Second, he has more wins than Danica does. And lastly, he makes more money off of souvenir sales in one year than Danica will ever hope to get in her career. The only thing they do have in common is that neither has won a championship in their respective racing series top tier. She’s not moving to NA$CAR people. Now find something else to write about. News Flash! The Emperor has no clothes. Film at 11!
The Forbes article on the 10 Most Valuable Teams left me scratching my head. Just how did they figure out the value of the teams? Is it from the value of their media exposure? Is it how much they pull in from their sponsors? Is it from their actual assets, like cars, haulers, and airplanes? Considering the financial problems that the Co-owner of Motormouth Motorsports has had the last few years, how in the heck did his team make the Top 10? Too many unanswered questions and not enough answers.
In case you’re wondering just how much money the teams make off of souvenir sales, it’s a big, whopping 5%, which means for every $20 T-shirt you buy, the teams get $1. Where does the rest of it go? Right in the Royal Treasury. So if you’re not too fond of helping out His Highness, you might want to buy your T-shirts from the independent vendors near the tracks. At least they’re trying to make an honest living.
While the final ratings came out for both Dover
and the Focks season, you have to wonder why
there’s no announcement on how the Truck
Series broadcasts are doing. When they
announced the Truck Series figures over the last
few years, they actually had an increase in their
ratings and track attendance or were maintaining
a steady rating. So why does NA$CAR keep
trying to hide these positive ratings results? Oh,
my bad, we can’t have something that makes
the Cup Series look bad getting any media
coverage.
You can tell the lamestream media didn’t read
what I wrote about Jeffy Boy’s back problems. They keep asking him about back surgery. Pay very close attention lamestream media. It ain’t happening folks. Back surgery is the absolute last resort and unless the present course of treatment doesn’t work, he won’t be having the surgery. Now, go back to trying to find something newsworthy. News Flash! Mafia Mike has hang nail. May need fingernail amputation. Prospects grim. Blog at 11!
Here’s wishing Bill, one of our readers, a speedy recovery from his knee surgery.
To all the surviving veterans of D-Day, you weren’t forgotten in this house.
Motherhood, Apple Pie, and John Wayne
Mad Mikie, Curmudgeon at Large
Gotta comment, question or want to say hey there...email Mike here
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