Happy Thursday! Today In Nascar History Nov. 5, 2000: In his 35th career Cup Series start, Ryan Newman gets his first win, dominating the rain-shortened New Hampshire 300. Newman leads 143 of 207 laps and wins under caution with Kurt Busch finishing second and future boss Tony Stewart in third. Quote of the Year There's an unwritten rule in NASCAR: Thou shalt not take on Dale Earnhardt Jr. --Terry Blount/espn Vote for your driver! www.chexmostpopular Bits and Pieces Johnson needs 402 points: So, if #5-Martin wins the final three Sprint Cup races [Texas, Phoenix & Homestead] and leads the most laps, he would score 585 points [195x3] for a total of 6649 points. #48-Johnson has 6248, so Johnson needs to score 402 points in the final three race, IF Martin were to win all three. Which is an average of 134 points a race for the three remaining races. Finishing 10th is 134 points. So Johnson needs to finish 10th or better in the three remaining races [or total 402 points], and nothing Martin or any other driver can do to overtake Johnson. 14 Winners in 2009: #26-Jamie McMurray's victory at Talladega in November made it 14 different race winners in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this season. There were 12 different race winners all of last season. There are six race winners from last season still awaiting their first victory of 2009: #99-Carl Edwards, #16-Greg Biffle, #33-Clint Bowyer, #31-Jeff Burton, #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. and #39-Ryan Newman. The record for most different winners in a season is 19 in the 1956, 1958, 1961 and 2001 seasons. Hendrick could be break record with a 1-2-3 finish: #48-Jimmie Johnson is almost assured of an unprecedented fourth consecutive Sprint Cup title, but Hendrick Motorsports has another dominance record it can achieve. Rick Hendrick can become the first team owner in NASCAR history to sweep the top three spots in the standings. With three races remaining, Hendrick drivers hold down first, second and third with Johnson, #5-Mark Martin and #24-Jeff Gordon, respectively. #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, who drives for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, is 4th, 47 points behind Gordon and #14-Tony Stewart [tech alliance with Hendrick] is 87 points behind Gordon in 5th. Hendrick is the only organization to claim the top two spots in the standings since the modern era began in 1972. Terry Labonte won the 1996 championship when teammate Jeff Gordon finished second. Gordon also was second to Johnson in 2007.(read full story at ESPN) NASCAR President to guest DJ on Siruis today: NASCAR President Mike Helton will stop by SIRIUS XM's Elvis Radio studio on the Graceland grounds to play his all time favorite Elvis songs during his special guest DJ session on Thursday, November 5 at 12:30 pm/et, Elvis Radio, SIRIUS channel 13 and XM channel 18.(SIRIUS XM Radio) Some Season Stats so far: Texas Rookie Notes/Facts: #20-Joey Logano was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the November 1 AMP Energy 500 at Talladega. Logano scored a third-place finish, his third top-five and seventh top-10 of the season. He claimed top rookie honors for the fourth consecutive race and for the 24th time in 2009. Logano scored top-10 finishes in both Talladega races this season (he finished ninth in the Aaron's 499 in April). Logano leads #82-Scott Speed by 37 points (236-199) in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering the November 8 Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The best finish by a Raybestos Rookie in four fall races at Texas is fifth-place by Clint Bowyer in 2006. Bowyer is the only Raybestos Rookie to score a top-five in four fall races at Texas. Only once in 17 races at Texas has a Raybestos Rookie won the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win by 5.920 seconds over Jeff Burton in 2000. The best start by a Raybestos Rookie in four fall races at Texas is third by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2007. The most recent Raybestos Rookie to win a pole position in the Sprint Cup Series is Patrick Carpentier. Carpentier captured the top starting spot for the 2008 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (53 races).(Camp & Assoc./Raybestos) Special guest in #43 pit: Air Force Gen. William M. Frasier III will sit on the #43 Valvoline Dodge pit box this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway as a guest of driver Reed Sorenson and Richard Petty Motorsports. NASCAR to implement rookie orientation program: NASCAR will implement a one-day rookie orientation seminar next February for newcomers to its three national touring series. The annual program will be designed for rookies and drivers 22 and under, NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Wednesday. It will focus on NASCAR rules and policies as well as the adjustment to competing on the national stock-car circuit. "It's something we've been looking at for the last two or three years," Poston said. "We looked at what all the other leagues do, and one thing we realized is all the other leagues do this, and there seems to be a lot of benefit both for the league and their participants. Kyle Busch going for triple at Texas: Kyle Busch attempts to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win all three national series races - Sprint Cup [#18 M&M's Toyota], Nationwide [#18 Toyota] and Camping World Truck Series [#51 Toyota] - in the same weekend when he competes in the Dickies 500, O'Reilly Challenge and WinStar World Casino 350k, respectively, at Texas Motor Speedway. In Sprint Cup competition, Busch has three top-six finishes and 207 laps led in his last four TMS starts, including a best of third in the 2008 Samsung 500. In Nationwide action, he has been a dominant force and will arrive having won three consecutive races. In the truck series, he still is seeking his first win, but has finished runner-up in three of his last four visits, the most recent being in this event last year. Busch nearly pulled off the triple earlier this season at California's Auto Club Speedway, winning Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series races in the same day and finishing second the following day in the Sprint Cup Series race. Busch has 59th career wins among NASCAR's top three divisions. Busch has won in all three of NASCAR's top divisions at six tracks: Auto Club Speedway, Phoenix, Bristol, Dover, Chicago and New Hampshire. Of the 30 tracks to host NASCAR's top three divisions in 2009, Busch has competed at each circuit at least once and has won at 22 of them. The eight venues where Busch has raced but not scored a victory are Martinsville, Pocono, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Homestead, Iowa, Milwaukee, Memphis New Cup team to debut in 2010: Raymond Key, younger brother of NASCAR Nationwide Series team owner Curtis Key, announced he is currently assembling a Sprint Cup Series team with assistance from Key Motorsports. Key's Sprint Cup team, Keyed Up Motorsports, plans to debut in the 2010 Daytona 500. Key Motorsports, based in Mooresville, North Carolina, is providing technical and engineering support as well as engines, personnel and shop space to Keyed Up Motorsports for the Sprint Cup effort. Key Motorsports, based in Mooresville, North Carolina, is providing technical and engineering support as well as engines, personnel and shop space to Keyed Up Motorsports for the Sprint Cup effort. "I am excited to be working with Raymond and Keyed Up Motorsports on the Sprint Cup program," Curtis Key said. "Raymond has traveled with our Truck and Nationwide teams and has been a lot of help to us. He has wanted to start his own team and he feels it is the right time." Keyed Up Motorsports will field Chevrolets purchased from Dale Earnhardt, Inc., with the team being committed to the the first five races on the 2010 Sprint Cup Series schedule which include Daytona, California, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Bristol. Curtis and Raymond Key, both Virginia businessmen who developed their companies from humble beginnings, have selected #90 for the Keyed Up Motorsports entry, a number that is rich in Virginia racing history [#90 was run for decades by Virginia based Junie Donlavey, winning once at Dover]. While no announcements were made regarding a driver or sponsor for the #90 Keyed Up Motorsports Sprint Cup Series team, team owner Raymond Key says it will not be a start and park team.(HardcoreRaceF #08 team to attempt Texas UPDATE: The #08 Carter/Simo Racing team will make the trip west to Texas Motor Speedway to compete in the Dickies 500 on November 8th.(Carter/ No Danica at Phoenix UPDATE but Daytona? Don't look for Danica Patrick to make her first NASCAR Nationwide Series start in the #5 JR Motorsports car at Phoenix International Raceway in two weeks, according to NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick. When asked before Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Talladega if Patrick, who has signed to stay in the IndyCar Series with team owner Michael Andretti, would make her first NASCAR start near her Scottsdale, Ariz., home, his answer was short and simple. "No," Hendrick said. "That's not going to happen." Aflac Partners with ScottsMiracle- Toyota leaving F1: Toyota is pulling out of Formula One racing, the world's largest automaker announcing Wednesday that it needs to cut costs and focus on its core business. "Based on the current economic environment, we realize we have no choice but to withdraw from Formula One," Toyota president Akio Toyoda said at a news conference. "This has been a very painful decision for the company." Toyota follows Honda Motor Co. as the second major Japanese automaker to withdraw from the sport in the last 11 months. Toyota officials called the withdrawal from F1 complete, making a return to the sport when and if conditions improve unlikely. Toyota, the world's largest car manufacturer, is seeking to cut costs as it expects to post an operating loss for the six months ended Sept. 30. It is due to report earnings Thursday. The company posted its worst-ever loss in the financial year at the end of March.(Associated Press) Milestone start for Mears: #07-Casey Mears will make his 250th-career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start this weekend in the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, a mark that started with a 21st-place start and 27th-place finish in the 2003 Daytona 500. Since then, the 31-year old driver has earned one victory (Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte, May 2007) 12 top-five and 46 top-10 finishes, along with three pole awards. For the first time, the #07 Chevy will have Choctaw Casino Resort on board as the primary sponsor this weekend. Located in Durant, Okla., this is Choctaw's first venture into NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing.(RCR) Special scheme for Montoya at Texas UPDATE: #42-Juan Pablo Montoya will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a special paint scheme on his #42 Target Chevy for the Dickie's 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.(TMS) UPDATE: Target partnered with four Hispanic influencers to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with its annual Dream In Color campaign, which celebrates diversity. The campaign features Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates driver Juan Pablo Montoya. The #42 Target Chevy team will run a very special Dream In Color paint scheme at Texas Motor Speedway. The 2009 dreamers were selected by Target for their compelling and encouraging stories and their passion to inspire greatness in others. Please visit target.com/dreaminc #6 car to support Boys and Girls Clubs: The #6 UPS Ford of David Ragan will carry a special Boys and Girls Clubs of America design in the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The UPS Foundation and BGCA launched a program - Road Code- this year to help teach teens across the country the importance of safe driving. On Nov. 5, NASCAR driver David Ragan will unveil his newly designed UPS-sponsored race car which sports a Boys & Girls Club logo and the handprints of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas members who participate in the UPS Road Code safe driving program. These Club teens were on hand to assist Ragan in presenting his new Ford Fusion car and to enjoy watching a racing demonstration in Dallas. The Salt Lake City UPS Freight Center will be the featured Maximum Center at Texas Motor Speedway. The center will have its three-letter alpha code, SLC, on the wing of the #6 UPS Ford. (Roush Fenway Racing) Dickies American Worker of the Year gets shot at $1 million: On Saturday, Nov 7th, 2009 Dickies American Worker of the Year Michael McGee to randomly select one of the 12 Chase drivers at Texas Motor Speedway. If the driver McGee selects takes the checkered flag at the Dickies 500 on Sunday, McGee will become an instant millionaire. McGee, an agricultural teacher and horse training business owner from Broken Bow, OK, was named the 2009 Dickies American Worker of the Year on Friday, October 30 at the Professional Bull Riders World Finals in Las Vegas. As the promotion's winner, McGee received $50,000 and an all-access, VIP trip for two to the Dickies 500 this weekend, which includes all track activities, a tour of the track's garage, a view of the race from exclusive seats in the Dickies suite, and most importantly, the chance to turn his $50,000 prize into $1 million.(Dickies/ Matt McLaughlin Mouth's Off Matt McLaughlin · Frontstretch. A Trojan Horse? NASCAR officials are like brown recluse spiders in the basement. You can normally live with them… but you need to keep a wary eye on them. Those folks down on Speedway Boulevard in Daytona seem constantly up to some sort of mischief that starts out as innocent trial balloon, but rapidly inflates to their "Next Worst Idea Ever." Over the last few years, NASCAR has rapidly built themselves a flock of zeppelins that could be called "The Next Worst Idea Ever Flotilla." Oh, they won't admit it. If the Chase were the Hindenburg, NASCAR would still be trying to sell tickets to board it while it burnt. Oh, the lack of humanity. In the meantime, NASCAR's Truck Series sort of floats out there in the ether like your next door neighbor's dog. It's an affable enough beast, but you haven't paid much attention to it since it was a puppy unless you caught it crapping on your lawn. The Detroit Big Three have pretty much written off the Truck Series, leaving Toyota to dominate, and I've lost interest in the series as a result. Now, I dig pickup trucks. My lifestyle demands I own one. I think it's been about thirty years since I haven't had a pickup parked in the driveway. Almost all were Fords in the appropriate shade of Henry Ford black (well, one was yellow, but the less said about that the better.) They've ranged from Rangers to F-350s, and even in the ones that had air conditioning it never worked. The whole rest of the trucks did. Hard. The key to truck ownership is you keep what you got until it takes more work to keep it going then it does for you. Currently, I've got a GMC I got cheap that's flirting with 200,000 miles. It's a good truck, one that hauled home both this season's wood pellets and the new dirt bike. The A/C works… I just never use it. So whatever chromosome dictates truck ownership, I've got it. I used to watch the truck races religiously cheering for the Fords. When the Toyotas first started racing, I watched hoping to see them lose. Now that they're winning, well, I take comfort in the fact when I drive to the local hardware store on Saturday morning or past job sites in these parts it's still Fords, Chevys, GMCs, and Dodges I'm seeing actually being used as trucks. The Japanese are never going to get the concept of what an American wants a pickup truck for. It's so ingrained in our culture and foreign to theirs they might as well try to rewrite the Star Spangled Banners using focus groups. Buddy, when I die, throw my coffin in the back of the GMC and haul it to my final resting place. I don't stand much on ceremony. I did take note of some changes that NASCAR is making to the Truck Series next year. It appears this whole experiment with not being able to change tires and add fuel on the same stop, originally devised as a cost-cutting measure, is over with because the fans hated it. They're going to try out a new self-venting gas can, which means the teams will be able to have six guys go over the wall rather than seven by eliminating the catch can guy. OK, fair enough. I don't know what a good catch can guy gets paid, but I imagine if it he's at the top of his catch can game, it's more than an Internet NASCAR writer. Also fair enough. I've never been run over sitting at this keyboard… Teams also aren't going to be allowed to run more than two straight races without using what's called a "sealed engine." (An engine that NASCAR places strategic seals on to ensure that it hasn't been rebuilt since it was used in a previous race.) That's said to be a cost-cutting measure. That's a good thing, I suppose. With most of the big players out or on their way out, the Truck Series is struggling to fill their fields. There's usually anywhere from seven to nine start and park teams that vacate the track before the first pit stop, and that's in fields that never exceed 36 vehicles. But sort of tucked in near the bottom of the PR memo was a note that starting next year teams will have the "option" of running a spec engine at all events held on tracks a mile and a quarter or less in length. A quick review of the 2010 truck schedule in its current form indicates that tracks of that length encompass 10 of 25 races. If, down the road, the rule were changed to allow spec engines at tracks of a mile and a half or less in length, that would swell the number to 19 of 25 races — or a clear majority of the schedule. That's the thing about these trial balloons. While they seem to swell slowly, once they've got a foot in the door, they use the other to kick it in. I mean, holds it right there, Bubba-louie. Spec engines? That's unprecedented in NASCAR's top three touring divisions. What, exactly, are the specifics here before we go dashing out onto thin ice covering uncharted waters? Who is going to build these spec engines? What are they going to cost? Is there going to be one Ford, one Dodge, one Chevy, and one Toyota spec engine, or will one size fit all? I tuned into the SPEED TV pre-race show to get a little insight. They were having a really bad costume party, so they didn't say much. In fact, other than pantomiming making fists and trying to move my hands like a handcuffed midget driving a go-kart, I didn't get a whole lot of insight into much Saturday. So I took off my superhero pajamas and did a little digging. The new spec engine is a one size fits all design based on the (work it, work it, now) Toyota design, which is sort of unique in NASCAR racing engines as it has absolutely no relation to any engine ever designed to run on the street now or in the past. It was a clean sheet of paper design that NASCAR sort of rubber-stamped to get the once seemingly unfaultable Japanese automaker into the fold and writing the big checks. Presumably, if the teams choosing to run a spec engine already have an inventory of Rams, F-150s, or Silverados they'll be allowed to run appropriate valve cover decals. Or I hope so. The first time I see a shot of an F-150 race truck with a Toyota emblem on its valve cover, I will officially quit being a race fan. Even the thought of a Silverado with a Toyota engine is troubling. (As an aside, does it seem since 1967 every new generation of Chevy truck is uglier than the last? But I'm cool with that. Trucks aren't like women. They're just supposed to work hard and get the job done, not look good in a Batgirl costume.) As for price, nobody could offer me a clue. More than I've spent on my last four pickups combined, but less than I'd pay for a cherry GS455 Stage One convertible if I won the Powerball lottery was the range of guesses I got. Will teams own and rebuild the engines? Probably not. It will be a lease sort of arrangement. Who is going to build these spec engines and make sure they're all equal? According to my Magic 8 ball, "Check back later… answer cloudy." Let me go on record without mincing words. I hate the idea of a "one size fits all" spec engine. NASCAR is famous for what we called "Mission Creep" starting back in the Vietnam era. Oh, sure, right now it's an "option" for just ten races in the Truck Series next year. Then, the year after that, it will be those 19 races I mentioned. Then it will be mandatory in the Truck Series, and in the planning stages for the Nationwide and Cup series. NASCAR has already standardized the bodies on the Cup cars, and a spec engine is their next step in controlling competition. Down the road, if the car manufacturers decide to pull out of NASCAR racing, spec cars with spec bodies, spec chassis, and spec engines mean that NASCAR can at long last race what the clueless sorts at papers like the New York Times call "NAS-CARs." The fans haven't reacted well to the McCars (COTs), McTracks (the cookie cutters), and the McPoints system (the Chase.) I think they're going to hate a one size fits all spec engine almost as much. This trial balloon is just barely off the ground, so if you hate the idea as much as I do, now is the time to break out the darts. Like they used to say at weddings, "speak now, or forever hold your peace." Or in this case, forever hold your piece.
Newman says he's sore, nursing chipped teeth after wild Talladega flip By Greg Engle, CupScene.com Editor
DAYTONA BEACH FL - Three days removed from one of the wildest crashes in recent NASCAR history, Ryan Newman spoke about the incident. Sunday in the closing laps at Talladega, Newman's No. 39 Chevy hit the back of his teammate Tony Stewart's Chevy. Newman's car shot across the track turn spun around backwards and pirouetted up and over with the back of the car landing on the hood of Kevin Harvick's machine behind him. Newman's car then slid on its roof back across the track into the turn 3 wall and began to flip down the embankment coming to rest on its roof in the grass. Safety crews were on the scene almost immediately and everything stopped as crews began to access the situation. After several anxious moments, the safety crew gingerly righted the car then cut the roof off allowing Newman to step out. Newman also gave credit to the safety equipment in the car. "There are a lot of people I have to say thanks to for that. I want to thank ButlerBuilt (seats), Simpson Race Products and all the guys at the shop and Hendrick Chassis for what they do to make the cars safer. I obviously tested everything last week I also want to thank all the NASCAR fans and the people who work in the sport for their outpouring of concern. I've gotten more calls, texts, emails and notes than I could have imagined. I know people have reached out to Krissie and people at Stewart-Haas Racing, and it has just really been amazing. So, I want to say thanks to everybody for that." Busch: We need to go faster at Talladega By Greg Engle, CupScene.com Editor
DAYTONA BEACH FL-One day after a wild Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway, 18 drivers took part in a two-day Goodyear tire test Monday at Daytona International Speedway a track where speeds are near what they were at Talladega. Only two hours before Sunday's race, NASCAR told the drivers that the practice of bump drafting would not be allowed in the turns. The crackdown came after the spring race at Talladega that saw Carl Edwards become airborne and careen into the fence along the frontstretch, while Edwards was unhurt, eight fans were injured. NASCAR had earlier mandated smaller restrictor plates then were used in the spring although speeds were down very little. Despite their efforts however, Sunday's race turned into a crash fest in the final laps. Many have said that NASCAR's policy of trying to slow the cars down using restrictor plates, which lower the horsepower in the engines, are to blame for the accidents that happened in the spring and on Sunday. For its part NASCAR seems to point a finger not only at high speeds but bump drafting as well. Tuesday during a break at Daytona, 2004 series champion Kurt Busch said that perhaps the answer to solving the problems at Talladega was to learn a lesson from Daytona. "It's a continuing debate," Busch said. "We're here at Daytona. This track has older asphalt that's why we're here working with the tire. This track separates what I would say the 'men versus the boys when it comes to your setup'. Talladega, anybody can get around that racetrack and the cars are very equal. Daytona is much more of a challenge it's exciting to really race your car here because you're sideways at 180 miles an hour and the longer you can keep your foot in the throttle the more you're going to stretch out from the cars behind you. You can't do that at Talladega. "All of us can armchair quarterback what we should do," he added. "In my opinion what we need are different restrictor plate sizes for Talladega versus Daytona and what I mean by that is we should go faster at Talladega and create that need for the cars to slide a little bit and put a little more emphasis on set up and less on bump drafting." Busch also feels that when NASCAR returns to Daytona next February, the rules they had concerning bump drafting at Talladega won't be needed. "The bump draft is a necessary evil at Talladega," Busch said. "Here you don't need it as much, you can just run single file and feel the effects of the draft. You don't necessarily have to push the guy in front of you because the setup becomes more involved; it's not just raw speed, so there's always that give and take on who's got the downforce in their car versus their setup that's what helps the cars here separate themselves a little better is the setup." Sunday at Talladega two cars flipped, the Chevy's raced by Ryan Newman and Mark Martin. According to Busch, NASCAR needs to focus on the new generation racecar that was introduced fulltime to the series in 2007. "It's 'careful what you ask for'" Busch said. "We wanted bigger greenhouses to protect the drivers but ultimately all a bigger greenhouse does is create a bigger parachute for the air to grab when the car turns around in reverse that's why the cars are lifting a little easier. Do we need better roof flap systems? That's something we need to look at. Cars are definitely flipping over too easily." NASCAR drivers onboard for Formula One style qualifying By Greg Engle, CupScene.com Editor, NASCAR Examiner Anyone who has watched NASCAR qualifying knows that it can seem like a long drawn out affair; one car, one or two timed laps. At tracks like Talladega and Daytona, qualifying can actually become something of a snooze fest. The most exciting qualifying of the year usually comes during Speedweeks at Daytona with the duel qualifying races, which come after fans are forced to sit through a traditional qualifying session a few days before. One idea being to generate excitement is to look at the way Formula One qualifies. Instead of a single car, single run F1 qualifying uses a timed 'knockout' system. Here's how the FIA, Formula One's sanctioning body list the qualifying procedure. Q1: All 20 cars may run laps at any time during the first 20 minutes of the hour. At the end of the first 20 minutes, the five slowest cars drop out and fill the final five grid places. Q2: After a seven-minute break, the times are reset and the 15 remaining cars then run in a 15-minute session - again they may complete as many laps as they want at any time during that period. At the end of the 15 minutes, the five slowest cars drop out and fill places 11 to 15 on the grid. Q3: After an eight-minute break, the times are reset and a final 10-minute session will feature a shootout between the remaining 10 cars to decide pole position and the starting order for the top 10 grid places. Again, these cars may run as many laps as they wish. If a driver is deemed by the stewards to have stopped unnecessarily on the circuit or impeded another driver during qualifying, his times may be cancelled. Remembering Walter Payton, racing fan Ryan McGee/espn.com It's hard to believe that 10 years ago last Sunday we lost Walter Payton. For all of his accomplishments on the football field and in life, few people remember that he was also a gigantic racing fan. Shortly after his retirement from the NFL in 1988, he started hanging around the track at celebrity events and in 1992 made his professional racing debut in Trans-Am. By '95 he'd bought into Dale Coyne Racing as a co-owner in the CART Indy Car World Series, which eventually became Champ Car. He loved to stand on the grid at the Indianapolis 500, tirelessly signing autographs and completely understanding what it meant to the racing world to have the then-all-time rushing leader walking the pits and rubbing elbows with the likes of A.J. Foyt and Al Unser Jr. I started covering CART in the mid-1990s after the novelty of having Payton in the paddock had worn off. It was always amazing to me how you could find him hanging out in the Payton-Coyne pits or garage stall unbothered. The fact that the team wasn't very good had a little something to do with that. Most fans and media types were up at the other end of the paddock surrounding Team Penske or Ganassi Racing. Once in 1997, I caught him at the Gateway International Raceway outside St. Louis. He was just sitting there watching the cars hammer by during the morning warm-up session. I nervously asked him if he could do a quick TV interview for "RPM2Night." He jumped up and said it'd be no problem. What was supposed to be a couple of quick questions about his involvement in the sport turned into a lengthy conversation about racing in general, a talk that continued long after the camera had been turned off. He told me that he wished he had gotten into racing when he was younger, but that he knew the Chicago Bears would've never let him do it. Payton talked about a flipping, fiery Trans-Am crash he had at Road America in which he suffered some minor burns that "weren't as big of a deal as everyone made it out to be." But it was clear that his lifelong feeling of invincibility had been challenged. Then the conversation turned to stock car racing. "Hey, do you cover a lot of NASCAR races?" I told him that I did, still consciously trying to keep my cool while my 20-something- I told him about the recently-founded Richard Petty Driving Experience school that was running out of the Charlotte Motor Speedway and his eyebrows went up. He wanted to know if I thought they'd open a franchise in Daytona. Then he started to explain to me how he'd grown up a closet stock car fan as a kid in Mississippi, then gravitated toward NASCAR in the early 1980s, but shied away from getting involved in it because he didn't know if the sport was ready for an African-American to be "in a high profile position." Then he wondered aloud about looking into the possibility of purchasing a stake in a NASCAR team, repeatedly saying that he should call his fellow Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, who had become a Cup Series owner in '92 and won the Daytona 500 in just his second try. "You think they'd accept me as a team owner over there?" "Yes," I told him, adding assurances that attitudes in the garage had come a long way since he was a kid. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that people accept Walter Payton everywhere you go." "Nope," he said, flashing the smile that sold a few zillion No. 34 jerseys. "Not at Lambeau Field." That was it. My knee-knocking, I-can't-believe- During Sunday's Talladega race, the 10th anniversary of Payton's death, I couldn't help but think of him again, wondering if by now he would have been over here with us in NASCAR. When fellow footballers Gibbs and Reggie White joined forces to start their grassroots-level racing program to discover minority talent, the program that brought us Aric Almirola, I wondered if he would have been a part of it had he still been with us. I'm betting yes. By the Numbers: Texas Chase drivers have found success in Lone Star State Eight of 12 have TMS wins; Edwards, Johnson top stats By Bill Kimm, NASCAR.COM Texas Motor Speedway, site of Sunday's Dickies 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, ABC) has only been on the Cup Series schedule since 1997. In fact, the track has only hosted two races a season since 2005, but the winner's list is a who's-who of this generation's top drivers. Eight of the 12 Chase drivers have visited Victory Lane at TMS, headlined by Carl Edwards with three wins. In a season where he is still looking for his first victory, this weekend could be his best chance. Of course, all eyes on will be on Jimmie Johnson, who has his fourth consecutive Cup title well in hand barring a major slip-up. The bad news for the rest of the field -- Johnson has the best average finish among active drivers at TMS and has finished outside the top 15 just once, a 38th in the 2007 spring race due to a crash. Johnson needs to average a top-10 finish in the final three races to lock up the title and with nine top-10s in 12 races at Texas, he should inch that much closer to Cup supremacy on Sunday. Inside the Data Chase drivers at Texas Motor Speedway
DID YOU KNOW? 3 Three Chase drivers are still looking for their first top-five finish in the Chase: Carl Edwards, Brian Vickers and Ryan Newman. GORDON'S POLE WATCH 16 Since his first full-time season in 1993, Jeff Gordon has won at least one pole in a season -- a streak that has lasted 16 years. Through 32 races in 2009, Gordon has yet to win a pole, putting the longest active streak in the Cup Series in jeopardy. Gordon qualifies really well at Texas, with an average starting position of 9.9. In the past five races at TMS, Gordon has started on the front row four times, including two poles. NECESSITOUS NUMBERS 0 Toyota has yet to visit Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway. The manufacturer' 2 Two drivers have an average finish inside the top 10 at Texas: Jimmie Johnson (8.5) and Matt Kenseth (9.7). 2 Two drivers have a special place in their heart for Texas Motor Speedway as it is the track they scored their first Cup victory: Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3.4 Jimmie Johnson has an average finish of 3.4 in the seven Chase races this season. He has three wins, five top-fives and seven top-10s in this year's Chase. 4 Thanks to a third-place finish at Talladega, Joey Logano now has four consecutive top-15 finishes. He finished 14th at Fontana, fifth at Charlotte, 12th at Martinsville and third at Talladega. He and Jimmie Johnson are the only drivers with four top-15s in those races. 15.5 Average starting position of the four winners in Chase races at Texas. Two of the four started eighth and two outside the top 10, including Carl Edwards, who started 30th in 2005. Ironically, the past four spring races at Texas have seen the winner come from the front row. 26 If Bobby Labonte can put his No. 71 Chevrolet in the top 10 at Texas, he will be the 26th driver in Cup history to score 200 top-10s. The last driver to hit 200 top-10s was Tony Stewart in 2008. 250 Congratulations to Casey Mears, who will be making his 250th Cup Series start Sunday at Texas. In 249 races, Mears has one win, 12 top-fives and 46 top-10s. NASCAR ON TV THIS WEEK
All times Eastern Well, that's all for today. Until the next time, I remain, Your Nascar Momma Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"
"Don't come here and grumble about going too fast. Get the hell out of the race car if you've got feathers on your legs or butt. Put a kerosene rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up there and eat that candy ass." -Dale Earnhardt - 1998 |
knowyournascar-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To post message, send an email to:
knowyournascar@yahoogroups.com
-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To post message, send an email to:
knowyournascar@yahoogroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment