Why I would like to learn to fly someday

A picture by NASCAR driver Kyle Petty as he was flying to one of his stops...

A marked man...

Mayfield said outside court Wednesday he would travel to Daytona, but wasn’t sure in what capacity. His suspension covered both his roles as driver and owner of his car, and he wasn’t sure he could put something together in time.

Larry Gunselman and Tommy Baldwin, two owners who potentially could have given Mayfield a ride, said they weren’t considering him for Saturday night’s race.

“Whether he’s right, wrong or different right now, he’s marked,” said Baldwin, “and that’s going to hurt him probably for the rest of his career.”

Mayfield not at Daytona when garage opens - NASCAR - Yahoo! Sports

It is a shame that it has to be this way. I am not a Mayfield fan, I think in someways he is a jerk, but I think NASCAR was wrong and have defended him. The 3 ring circus that NASCAR set up for drug testing was an exercise in stupidity. That being said I must agree with Baldwin here. He is going to have a hard time getting any car he drives/owns through inspection much less being noted for infractions on the course. NASCAR has effectivly killed him.

Mayfield Wins against NASCAR ... or does he?

What and Idiot

Why I can never be a Kyle Bush fan. No respect for what he won or what went into the making of it.

April Fools

Today was an interesting day. I did my usual teaching and went to work. I was aware of it being April 1, April Fools day, but no one had tried to pull an obvious joke on me so I was not thinking about it.

Driving to my real job I was listening to a talk show on local station KRMG, the Neal Boortz show. I usually listen to him as I do not agree with everything he says but it is interesting. He started to describe during his Government outrage segment how Obama had told GM and Chrysler that if they wanted any more money they would have to withdraw their participation in NASCAR. Boortz was upset! He cannot tell them how to advertise.

Needless to say I got to work and started to tell a co-worker about it. We both agreed it was the wrong thing to do. I figured I would blog about it so I started to search about it. Seems that the Internet was abuzz about it. One article said Obama and NASCAR was the biggest Google News search for the day, and it all started with an article at the Car and Driver magazine web site. Well Car and Driver meant it as an April Fools joke but it seems that it took on a mind of its own. Some places have not retracted the statements yet either.

So while I did not get hit directly, I guess I got it indirectly.

Of course my stepdaughter got it. She got a Facebook message that said Obama and her were second cousins and clicked the link.

Obama was the subject of a lot of the jokes today. Hope he does not mind.

Giving back to what got you there

From SceneDaily.com

 

Hamlin said during Thursday’s 2009 Media Day at Daytona International Speedway that he will give away the tickets on his official Web site, DennyHamlin.com.
“They can sit in my seats each and every week at every single race track we go to,” Hamlin said. “Basically, they just enter in there, and we’ll choose a handful to be sitting in my seats each week.”
Hamlin said he will give away a minimum of four tickets per race, with more tickets available at some tracks. They won’t be bad tickets, either, he insisted.
And you don’t have to be a Hamlin fan, either.
“That’s not to go out there and try to get more race fans,” Hamlin said. “It’s not [just] for Denny Hamlin race fans; it’s for everyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re going to be there in your Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. gear or your Carl Edwards gear. It doesn’t matter to me. I just want to help the race fans out that don’t have the means to or have gone for the last 20 years and now aren’t able to because of financial reasons.”
Hamlin estimated that the tickets have cost him between $75 and $150 apiece, and he isn’t getting any discounts or favoritism from tracks.
“They’re coming out of my pocket,” he said. “And it’s actually been a pretty big hassle, but it doesn’t matter.”
The economy has hurt race fans, Hamlin said, and everyone in the sport needs to be aware of the struggles of the fans.

 

Thanks Denny.  I may try to get tickets for Texas or Kansas, as they would be the closest to me, but I probally will not.  I cannot afford to take the time off from work to go.  I have never scene a race live, only on the TV, I would love to go.  

What I appreciate is that you, like most NASCAR drivers, know what got you where you are and appreciate the fans.  This however, is a step above and beyond.  Thanks again.

Do not mess with a good thing NASCAR

I do not know where NASCAR thinks they are helping the sport when we read from Fox Sports the following piece of information that will help reduce cost (supposedly):

 

When the truck series first debuted, the series was able to limit expenses by having teams pit once at halfway under a competition caution and have fewer men over the wall.

A similar plan could be in the works that would bring trucks down pit road according to the order on the track. Teams would be allowed to pit and the trucks would then return to the track in the same order, similar to a TV time out in football or basketball.

One of the things that attracts me to NASCAR is the high speed chess match that takes place each week.  Do we pit now, do we wait to pit, do we take two or four tires?  All of these effect the results.  Do just do a competition caution would increase the yawn factor about 75%.  So much can be gained or lost in the pits.  No NASCAR, do not do it.  I realize it is the TRUCKS and that is a testing ground of sorts, but leave this stuff to your minor leagues or the ARCA Remax series.

As the sun sets on the Petty Empire

From NASCAR.COM

Yet in the ensuing months, economic reality intervened. A recession hit. Sponsorship dried up. And so began the long tumble toward Thursday, when Petty Enterprises announced that it is negotiating with Gillett-Evernham Motorsports to field its flagship No. 43 car, and Labonte announced that he had been released from all ties to the organization. It's another step toward the end of Petty Enterprises as the sport has always known it, the team that family patriarch Lee Petty founded in 1949.

 

"In over 15 years of racing in the Sprint Cup Series, I can't remember a time when the sport's landscape looks as it does today," Labonte said in a statement. "Saying that, Petty Enterprises and I had serious and very sincere discussions about what was best for myself and everyone involved at Petty Enterprises moving forward. These discussions culminated with us agreeing that moving in a separate direction will be the greatest way to reach our end goals. It was by no means an easy decision."

Meanwhile, Petty Enterprises said it is in "exclusive" negotiations with GEM, which fields three Sprint Cup entries, about a transaction that would essentially involve the Gillett organization absorbing Petty's No. 43 car, which has been without primary sponsorship since General Mills announced last year its intentions to move to Richard Childress Racing for 2009. A deal with GEM would theoretically secure a place in the sport's future for the No. 43 car and owner Richard Petty, who drove it to seven championships.

I for one, though I am new to the sport will miss Petty and their presence.  It is the likes of Kyle Petty and his devotion to Victory Junction Camp that showed me there was more to these guys than 'go fast, turn left'.  We will miss you all.  Mr. Labonte, may you find a great ride.

Racing Season is over...

So it is time to go to Speedtv,con and vote for the Speed Performance Awards.  Like the man says, vote early and vote often.  Check out the 'Temper, Temper' and 'Best Finish categories for some great videos.

A sign of the times in NASCAR

From NASCAR.COM

MIAMI -- Teresa Earnhardt and Chip Ganassi will combine their slumping race teams next season, an effort to stabilize their organizations in a tough economic time.

The combined team will be called Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Martin Truex Jr. and Juan Pablo Montoya will drive the Nos. 1 and 42 and Aric Almirola will be behind the wheel of the No. 8. The driver of the No. 41 has not been named.

Both organizations have struggled to secure sponsorship this season, forcing the teams to pool resources.

 

Interesting that this would happen.  Chevy shop and a Dodge shop.  Will it be a sign of what is to come for the big 3 automakers?  They have not decided what cars to go with but it would appear to be Chevy's as Dodge has been less help then Chevy when it came to cars this year.

FCC to sponsor David Gilliland's Yates Racing ride - Sprint Cup Series | SceneDaily.com - NASCAR News

On Feb. 17, 2009, all full-power broadcast television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting on analog airwaves and begin broadcasting only in digital.

"I'm flattered that the FCC chose our No. 38 Ford to help them convey the message about the upcoming digital television transition taking place next year," Gilliland said. "This is a very big undertaking to convert the entire country to digital services, but the end result will be improved picture and sound quality and those are definitely important factors to NASCAR fans.”


Financial terms of the sponsorship were not disclosed.

FCC to sponsor David Gilliland's Yates Racing ride - Sprint Cup Series | SceneDaily.com - NASCAR News


Your tax dollars at work. Next thing you know we will have a president say 'Gentleman, start your engines....'. Oh I forgot, we had that already.

NASCAR.COM - Montoya salvages sixth; has issue with Ambrose - Jun 23, 2008

He didn't appear to be having much fun when Ambrose, who was making his Sprint Cup debut in the No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing, got inside of him in the hairpin turn, Turn 11, at Infineon. Montoya insisted that Ambrose brazenly charged into the turn too hard, causing the accident.

"I braked where I normally brake, and the 21 just dive-bombed like three cars," Montoya said. "When he went to turn, he couldn't slow down and I was the next one in line. So I just got punted by him. It's pretty frustrating.

"A guy like that who has never run here doesn't understand the give and take as much, and wants to prove he can race here. It's hard, because guys like that just want to prove themselves. I just ended up on the bad end of that deal."

NASCAR.COM - Montoya salvages sixth; has issue with Ambrose - Jun 23, 2008

Juan, before you open your mouth, you had better think about your previous quotes.  Things like saying your owner pays you to go out there and race hard and win.  Ambrose did nothing more or less than you have been doing the last year and a half and you have the gall to talk about give and take!

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You can do it, Tony can help

NASCAR Silly Season is officially underway.  It gets earlier and earlier each year.  I guess we could say that this is just a lot of smoke!

(For you non-NASCAR fans, Tony's nickname is Smoke)

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Thanks Dale

What a class act for a classy racer. Thanks Dale for the wonderful racing you have done over the years. Have enjoyed your work part time at ESPN, glad you can now do it full time.

'Where's the patient?' 'I am the patient,' Jeff Gordon says - Sprint Cup Series - Scenedaily.com

AVONDALE, Ariz. – While talking about his massive crash Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Jeff Gordon recalled a somewhat-humorous visit to a hospital after a big wreck at Pocono Raceway in 2006.
Gordon lost the brakes in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet heading into Turn 1 at Pocono and slammed the outside wall. He was fine, though he was sent to a New York hospital for a CAT scan.
“This part of the hospital, I don’t think many of their patients walk in,” Gordon said.
“I’m here for my CAT scan,” Gordon told hospital personnel.
“Well, where’s the patient?”
“Well, I am the patient.”
“They told us there was a car accident.”
“Yeah.”
“How fast were you traveling?”
“About 200 when the brakes went out. I think I hit about 150, 160 mph.”
“No, seriously. Where’s the patient?"

'Where's the patient?' 'I am the patient,' Jeff Gordon says - Sprint Cup Series - Scenedaily.com


Thanks Scenedaily, that is funny.  I can picture this almost like an Abbot and Costello 'Whose on First' routine.

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Another Nascar moment for you to enjoy

Who is on the front row on the Daytona 500

Congrats Mikey, I knew you had it in you.

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From 's this a Grown Man?' Department

Mikey, I love you as a racecar driver... but your taste in hats leaves a whole lot to be desired. Good luch to you and Toyota this year...

Michael Waltrip Racing Headline News

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NASCARGOT - A NASCAR Parody

Sometimes watching NASCAR races this year had seemed like this....

Still possibe to win the title

Well, one of my favorite NASCAR drivers won his first race in the Bush Series