Happy Tuesday. Today In Nascar History Dec. 1, 1969: Happy 40th birthday to crew chief Kenny Francis. Francis and driver Kasey Kahne made the Chase for the second time in 2009. They have 10 wins together, including two in 2009. Francis also was Jeremy Mayfield's crew chief when Mayfield made the Chase in 2004. Quote of the Year There's an unwritten rule in NASCAR: Thou shalt not take on Dale Earnhardt Jr. --Terry Blount/espn Countdown to Daytona 76 Bits and Pieces Jay Guy Heads To Penske As New crew chief for Keselowski By Greg Engle CupScene.com Editor "We wish Jay all the best — he is a good friend who worked hard to help bring us to where we are at," said Garone. "Jay was a true asset to our organization the past three years and we support him with his new opportunity." According to a report by Lee Spencer at FoxSports.com Guy now heads to Penske Racing to take over the crew chief duty for incoming driver Brad Keselowski. "(Keselowski) has definitely won a lot of races in the Nationwide Series," Guy said. "There's a great upside to him. This is what I've worked for the last 20 years, to have an opportunity such as this with a company like Penske." Local governments ask for dismissal of Lowe's Motor Speedway suit over incentives By Bob Pockrass/scenedaily CONCORD, N.C. – The city and county governments in the area of Lowe's Motor Speedway contend in court documents that they can't be sued for breach of contract nor forced into a formalized agreement with Speedway Motorsports Inc. that would give SMI $80 million in grants and tax incentives for renovating LMS and building a drag strip across the street. SMI Chairman Bruton Smith had threatened to move LMS in October 2007 if he did not get the permitting to build the drag strip on land near the existing 1.5-mile oval. As other area governments began offering incentives, the City of Concord and Cabarrus County offered an $80 million incentive package in November 2007 – with the details to be worked out later – to keep LMS where it's currently located. The local governments and SMI never reached a formal agreement, and SMI, which says it has spent $4 million already on public improvements it claims are reimbursable, filed a lawsuit in September in North Carolina Superior Court in Concord. SMI asks for a judgment requiring the governments to take all necessary action to formalize an agreement and damages for breaches of the agreement and misrepresentations. In a filing last week, Concord and Cabarrus County ask that the case be dismissed. Both the city and county state that their elected boards had not approved a contract, which must go through public hearings, and therefore they had no enforceable agreement. "The City denies that a contract was formed; because many material details had yet to be determined, the parties had merely agreed to agree," the City of Concord says in its motion. The City of Concord also alleges that SMI did not act in good faith, terminating negotiations after the initial offer. The governments' proposed agreement, filed as an exhibit in the case, requires SMI to spend $60 million on the drag strip, which now has been completed, within one year and $200 million on the speedway and various roads over three years. It also requires SMI to have three Cup events at the race track for each of the next 40 years, as well as to operate the drag strip for 40 years or else SMI would have to repay any of the incentives and grants it already had been awarded. In its complaint, SMI claims the wording in the contract allows the governments 40 years for the $80 million to be paid. SMI claims the governments want to avoid their obligations. In its response, the City said a judge cannot force it to sign a deal. "Courts have no power to mandate municipal legislation, and the decision to enter a contract is political, not judicial," the City says. Knaus: 'This is my time' By David Newton/ESPN. Chad Knaus was trying to put into perspective what it meant to win a record four straight Sprint Cup championships following the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway when he uttered the words that were heard around the world. "I hope that 10 years from now, when I'm sitting on my patio retired with my son or daughter or my wife or whatever is going on there, I can sit back and reflect and look at photographs, OK, the words were heard only around the Homestead media center and likely were repeated around the garage. But they raised a few eyebrows, including those of Johnson, who followed them with a question. Actually, three questions in one. "Retired, son and daughter?" he said, barely able to contain his laughter. "You have a lot to do in 10 years, buddy." The rest of the room laughed with Johnson and made light of the dream-world scenario the remainder of the news conference. Knaus isn't married, although he was engaged to Bruna Oliveira until they broke things off late last season. Unless there is more to the relationship with his current girlfriend, Lisa Rockelmann, he has no immediate plans to wed. He also has no children. "It's all coming, man," Knaus told Johnson. "It's all coming. This is my time." This indeed is Knaus' time. He is on track to become one of the greatest crew chiefs of all time, perhaps the greatest. In eight seasons with Johnson, he has four championships, two seconds and no finish outside the top five. He has no plans to slow down, either. Team owner Rick Hendrick said Knaus has told him he wants to remain Johnson's crew chief for at least five more years "He was talking to me by text [the night they won the title] and he already was talking about 2010 and things he wanted to do," Hendrick said. "I thought, 'Man, go out and celebrate this one.'" That's why Johnson was so amused by Knaus' comments. That's why everyone in the room was. That's why potential brides should be wary. Knaus, 38, is married to the No. 48 team. The only thing he seemingly has time to reproduce is more cars. He eats, sleeps and drinks racing arguably more than anybody in the garage. His day typically begins around 5:30 a.m. and ends sometime in the early evening. He doesn't have a scheduled day off and doesn't want one, although he knows how to have fun from time to time. "Chad would be bored doing anything else," Hendrick said. "He spends 20 hours a day, seven days a week planning for the future." Knaus doesn't necessarily outthink all the competition as much as he outworks and out-prepares them, whether it's an ingenious way around NASCAR's gray areas or planning a kickball game with crew members to analyze their competitive nature. In many ways he's a clone of Ray Evernham, who won three championships in four years with Jeff Gordon from 1995 to 1998. Evernham was so obsessed with perfection as a crew chief that he had time for hardly anything else in his life. He was the same way as a team owner until he woke up one day and realized there must be more to life. "Or just have a nervous breakdown or whatever it was," said Evernham, who in 2007 sold majority interest of Evernham Motorsports and began paying more attention to his personal life. "This job, it wears you out. You put so much into it, and I didn't know how to pace myself." You do it, Evernham added, "until there is nothing left." Evernham saw that drive in Knaus in 1992 when he interviewed him to be a tire changer for Gordon and the original "Rainbow Warriors." "I asked him, 'Where do you want to be in five years?'" Evernham recalled. "And he said, 'I want your job.' So I hired him. That's the kind of guy I wanted." Evernham thought that was "cool." He never interviewed another person who was so brash and ambitious. So he knows as much as anybody how Knaus ticks. "Chad does nothing but work on that race car," Evernham said. "He's got some really nice cars of his own, but go ask him how many miles he put on 'em. They're probably all like mine. I've got cars that I won with Rick that I've probably put 3,000 miles on in 10 years." Will Knaus have an Evernham-like moment where he realizes there's more to life than winning races and championships? Will there come a day when he desires a family of his own? Probably. It may come sooner than anybody knows. Just listen to Knaus talk about Hendrick, how the man he respects more than anybody puts family first. "That's why he wasn't able to be here tonight," said Knaus, referring to Hendrick's missing the championship celebration to be in North Carolina as his 29-year-old niece underwent an emergency liver transplant. "We all respect that and understand it, and I hope everybody else does, too. "It's unfortunate that he wasn't here, but he truly understands what the meaning of life is, and that's family." Knaus doesn't have much family outside of Hendrick Motorsports. He left what he had after high school to relocate from Rockford, Ill., where at the age of 14 he was the championship crew chief for his father, to North Carolina because he wanted to build cars and win titles. He left HMS in 1997 because he didn't want to wait for Evernham's job. He went to Dale Earnhardt Inc. as a car chief for Steve Park and later Darrell Waltrip. He moved to Melling Racing during the '98 season to lead Dodge's comeback into NASCAR with Evernham, by then a team owner. Before the 2002 season, he was introduced to Johnson, who was ready to embark on his rookie year. "When we left [the initial meeting] it was amazing how much time had passed and how well we connected," Johnson said. "I don't think we knew much about each other before that, but we felt like there was a bond there and something we wanted to build on." They've done more than build. They've engineered one of the greatest teams in the sport's history, winning four titles faster than Gordon or seven-time champions Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty. They've set a standard that the rest of the garage can't seem to match. But perhaps more important, they've done it at a pace that hasn't burned out the driver or the crew chief. Ask either what more they want out of life and neither comes up with a good answer other than what they are doing now. "They just had 'Dancing With the Stars' on," Knaus said jokingly as he glanced at a television set in the media center. "That looked kind of fun. I don't know, man. I don't know what I'm going to do when I grew up. I hope I never grow up. I love my job." Let's hope Knaus is smart enough to avoid "Dancing With the Stars." We know he's smart enough to know he can't continue at this pace for 10 more years, which is likely why he asked Hendrick to remain Johnson's crew chief for just five more years. "It's impossible," Knaus said. "But I love what I do. I have yet to get out of bed in the morning and not want to go to work. ... In the future, we're just going to have to wait and see." In the meantime, Knaus doesn't want to miss anything in the present. He purchased a video camera before the banquet in New York City a year ago to document the champion's celebration. He took it with him to Homestead and asked that one of his engineers give it to him when the title appeared inevitable. "Five laps to go, he walked up and he handed it to me," Knaus said. "I wanted to record it because ... I don't enjoy what we do enough in the moment typically, and I don't do a good job of keeping records and memorabilia and things like that. "I knew this was going to be a big deal and I wanted to be able to have something to remember it by, because even through all of the stuff that's going on, and it's a bit of a whirlwind, you forget." He'll take the camera to the banquet in Las Vegas this week as well. One day 10 years from now, as hard as it was for Johnson or any of us to believe, he'll want to enjoy it with a wife and kids. Let's talk turkey Darrell Waltrip/foxsports. Now I know when I mention talking turkey, you probably are thinking about a big ol' Butterball on the dining room table ready to be carved up. That's not it this time. I am talking about NASCAR turkey. Talking turkey means you speak plainly about difficult NASCAR subjects or issues. To me, that is where we are as far as next year is concerned. I still like the concept of town hall meetings. However, my vision is to have them not just with the elite but with a cross-section of people all having a vested interest in the health of the sport. I think it would help to get their opinions of what they are seeing and hearing that is outside the bubble. Sometimes being inside the bubble prevents you from seeing and hearing all sides of an issue. Talking turkey to me means reaching out and listening. Stop telling me that the racing, the competition, the Car of Tomorrow, the TV ratings, the attendance, the economy and the Chase for the Sprint Cup are great. The problem as I see it is that the message and reality don't match up. There are areas in this sport that have to have leadership. We need someone to stand up and say we know there are problem areas and here's what we are going to do about them: I still believe the car needs to be tweaked. Trust me, the first thing I would do is get rid of that wing. I have said it since Day 1; a wing simply doesn't belong on a stock car. The COT also needs a nose job. I have mentioned before that what I have seen and heard from drivers is the Nationwide Series COT is a thing of beauty. It's like they took everything that is wrong on the Cup car and fixed it on the Nationwide car. Folks, it's pretty simple. If the drivers have a car they are comfortable with and have trust in, plus it drives really well, then they are going to put on a better race. The Cup car we have today is too finicky. They are just too evil to drive. So let's tweak the car. It doesn't need a major overhaul, but it does need tweaking. For the life of me, I still do not understand why they won't listen and accept the fact that the Chase needs changes to it. We have to quit trying to act like the NFL. We aren't the NFL. NASCAR has thrived and grown for 61 years being different. It wasn't that long ago, maybe 15 to 20 years, that all the other sports laughed at us because of the logos we wore or had on the cars. They thought we were a bunch of hillbillies. But look around. What are they all doing today? They are trying to implement the same strategy. They are trying to be more like us and we need to quit trying to be more like them. One of the major problems with the Chase is that when it starts, the last 10 races quit being about the racing and start being about the Chase. You've taken 12 guys and separated them from the other 31 guys out there. It's made it into a show in of itself. If that's the course they are set on then they have to make changes to make the Chase more exciting. I have always said there should be elimination. If you are in the top 12 you are locked in. You can't be knocked out. That means you can finish 43rd in all of the last 10 races and guess what? You are going to finish 12th for the season. Huh? I am sorry, but that is just not right. There's no elimination or even brackets like there are in college basketball or drag racing. You also can't use the same point system in the Chase that you used to get into the Chase. They have to come up with a better scenario for those 12 guys. Now I can sit here and point out a handful of things that need to be different, but you know what? It doesn't matter what I say. What does matter is the folks in charge have to step up and say they are going to do things differently. This isn't about me. When I am either in the TV booth or at home on the couch, I can clearly see the car and the Chase needs to be worked on. I see the empty grandstands just like you. What's being done about it? I dunno. We've also become predictable with debris cautions to bunch the field up or stopping the race with those red flags. If you know who is going to win or be in the top 10 every week, isn't it common sense that folks are going to lose interest and find something else that excites them? We have to get back to the place where we were so unpredictable. Remember how it was when you couldn't wait for the race to start because you didn't know what was going to happen? That is what our sport dearly misses. Ronald Reagan once said, "Just because I disagree with you some of the time, doesn't mean I am your enemy all of the time." I have always been an advocate for constructive criticism. I have never been one to complain simply to complain. I have always tried to point out things that I didn't like but, at the same time, offer an option to consider fixing it. All this isn't trying to hurt anyone. It's trying to help everyone. Look at the positive impact from something as simple as implementing the double file restarts had on racing. Everyone says it was probably the best thing NASCAR has done in years, but it about took an act of Congress to make it happen. Collectively we need to blow life into areas of our sport that have gone stale and not going anywhere. Let's be proactive and blow some excitement into it again. Let's liven it up. Go back to February of this year. When NASCAR eliminated testing and took the teams off the road, everyone couldn't wait to get to Daytona. They were pumped up and excited to get there and get going. They weren't already burnt out from testing so much. Again, this isn't about me telling NASCAR about all the things they are doing wrong. This is about me as a race fan pointing out areas that need looked at and worked on. I am no different than any other fan that is screaming for change. What's wrong with wanting to make the sport better when there are some pretty simple things that will accomplish that? Nothing, in my book. I just don't want to continue to be told that everything is rosy. It's not. You see it and I see it. We have to make this sport more affordable. Fix the Chase. Fix the car. That's a great start. Also, just don't say you are going to go do something. Show me by going and doing it. Make the event worth the buck. Some of these tracks need to seriously work on making it easier for fans to get in and out of the event. The one thing that used to be said about our sport was dollar for dollar, it was the best buy in all of sports. Collectively we have to make sure it is and if it isn't then we have to do whatever it takes to get it back to that. This isn't some kind of Thanksgiving hangover. This is simply talking turkey. Right now, today, our sport needs to start talking turkey. Martin's Comeback Nothing Short Of Amazing Tom Jensen/speedtv. With all due respect to Jimmie Johnson's fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, no one came up bigger in 2009 than Mark Martin, who finished second to Johnson in points. Scott Riggs rode NASCAR's coaster, now he's unemployed By Michael J. Fresina - NASCAR Illustrated In an instant, it was over. When the message crackled in his ears, "Check your gauges, Scott," Scott Riggs knew his time at Tommy Baldwin Racing — and possibly his career — had come to an end. Riggs was just 54 laps into the first Richmond race of 2009 and there was nothing wrong with the car or its gauges. Team owner and crew chief Baldwin was telling Riggs — in not-so-subtle code — to park a perfectly healthy, albeit underpowered, race car. Referred to as a "start and park," the practice of qualifying for a race, running for a while and then heading home with a portion of the event's purse, is nothing new. That day's 42nd-place finish enabled Baldwin to pay $67,050 in mounting bills. Though they would limp into Charlotte together a few weeks later, Riggs knew he was finished with Baldwin. "Pulling that car off the track and behind the wall was the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Riggs says. "I've wrecked good cars, but parking at Richmond was the worst, most sickening feeling I have ever had in a race car." Riggs wasn't the only one who hated what happened at Richmond. "Scott would rather be 10 laps down fighting a piece of crud that he could hardly keep on the track than be told to quit," says Riggs' wife Jai. "I didn't know what had happened at Richmond until he called me and told me he was on his way home. It was hard hearing the defeat in his voice. That marked the low point of our time in racing." The end came after the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, with Baldwin (inset) and Riggs offering different explanations for the breakup. "Between myself and Scott, it wasn't that I doubted his driving," Baldwin says. "Yes, we weren't running good, it was just the attitude. There was no helping or anything. You're either in or you're out and he was out and that was it." Riggs counters that all he wanted to do was compete. "After we missed four of the first eight races," Riggs says, "I told Tommy to suspend my pay and put the money into the car. I just wanted to make it to Charlotte giving it our best effort. That didn't happen." Now, just nine years removed from a five-win season in the Truck Series that led to four wins in the Nationwide Series and a six-year run in Cup, the 38-year-old driver is still out of work. He spends his weekends at home, playing with his two children and pondering how a career that once looked so promising has gone so wrong. Raised in tiny Bahama, N.C., where he still lives, Riggs got his start on two wheels as a standout in the American Motorcycle Association, where he won state motocross championships in consecutive seasons. By 17, he was racing mini stocks and won 12 races in his first three years. He raced in several divisions over the next decade, until he got "the call" and made his debut in NASCAR's Truck Series. From 1999-2000, Riggs ran part-time in the Truck Series before breaking out in his third season — capturing the attention of NASCAR's power brokers, including Rick Hendrick and Larry McReynolds. Pollex began following him and brought Riggs to what is now the Nationwide Series for the 2002 season. In his first year with Pollex, Riggs won two races and was, for a while, the flavor of the week. "Ricky Hendrick [son of Rick Hendrick] called me and asked if I would consider moving to his Busch team, essentially becoming a Hendrick driver," Riggs recalls. "I said, "That may have been the wrong turn at Albuquerque, as they say. Maybe the biggest mistake I made. "Sure, I honored my commitment, which is always the right thing to do, but when I did get over to the Cup garage, I learned very quickly that racing at that level is an every-man-for- In 2003, Riggs was voted the series' most popular driver and finished the season sixth in points. "That year, I got a lot of calls from Cup teams," Riggs says. "We were so strong that it was as if we needed to show up every week with a really good speech ready for victory lane. "It was like being the star quarterback. I was being recruited by everyone. There were five teams that came to me, contracts in hand. I had no Cup experience, so it was very flattering to have them show that much interest." Riggs reached out to Rick Hendrick (inset), asking for advice on handling the offers and attention. Hendrick counseled Riggs to hold off for a while and see what types of deals might emerge. "In the middle of the season, I was offered the No. 9 car before Kasey Kahne. Bill Elliott was retiring and they wanted me in the car for 2004. I sat down with Ray [Evernham] and the people from Dodge at Bristol and they said, 'We need an answer now.' I was thinking, 'Where's the fire?' I wanted a little time to think and feel this out. I had literally never even walked through the Cup garage. I had no idea what it was like on that side of the fence. Two weeks later, they called and told me they had Kasey." Eventually, and again because of Hendrick, Riggs signed to drive the No. 10 for MB2/MBV Motorsports for 2004. "Mr. Hendrick recommended them to me and me to them as a good fit," Riggs says. "He assured me that they were using Hendrick technology and motors, and that he would keep an eye on me." In his two years with MB2/MBV, Riggs and his team showed more promise than performance, finishing 29th in '04 and 34th in '05. When rumors persisted that Valvoline was leaving MB2/MBV to join Evernham and that sponsorship for 2006 was anything but secure, Riggs finally seemed to land with a top-shelf team when he made the move with Valvoline. Again, the guiding and omnipresent hand of Hendrick played a role in Riggs' career. "Rick called when I was looking at different drivers and recommended that I take a hard look at Scott," Evernham says. "Rick doesn't extend recommendations lightly, so an endorsement from him means a lot." Riggs couldn't believe his good fortune. "Emotionally, that was a real high point in my career," Riggs says. "Sure, the first call to Cup was great, but when I went to Evernham, I understood the business and better appreciated what was being offered." Riggs ended 2006 20th in the point standings and collected eight top-10s, one top-five and two poles. But the team could have won a handful of races if not for a few mishaps, missteps and mistakes. "Coming so close to that first Cup win on so many occasions, was such a shame for Scott," Evernham says. "You look at it and think, 'That poor bastard was just one pit stop or speeding penalty away from winning his first Cup race.' Having that one win — a Cup win — on his resume would make a huge difference. A proven winner, he might The 2007 season was an unmitigated disaster for all three of Evernham's cars. A merger/buyout with Montreal mogul George Gillett loomed while Evernham's marital woes stole headlines and attention. Riggs ran 27 of 36 races and ended the year 36th in the point standings. When the deal with Gillett was finalized and preparations for 2008 were well underway, Riggs was one of the first casualties. "They wanted a Canadian driver, hoping they could attract a Canadian sponsor," Riggs says. "So, they bring in Patrick Carpentier and I'm out." "We weren't going to let him go, period," Evernham says. Despite being only one season removed from having run better than a third of the field, Riggs' best offer came from the perpetually struggling Haas/CNC Racing team in the No. 66 for 2008. There, he was teamed with crew chief Bootie Barker and managed to run consistently in the top 25 until the May race in Charlotte, when they were hit with the largest penalties NASCAR had levied since the introduction of the new car. The loss of 150 points and the six-race suspension of Barker derailed their season. "We were in the mix and then got the car taken away from us and got penalized all those points," Barker says. "It moved us from 25th to outside the top 35. That had nothing to do with Scott, but he had to suffer the consequences. He lost me as his crew chief and had to race his way in every week." The team struggled and when the announcement was made that Tony Stewart would be taking over 50 percent ownership of the organization for 2009, they were still outside the top 35. "Tony came to us and said, 'Get that car back in the top 35 and I'll pay you a [significant] bonus,' " Riggs says. Stewart wanted to ensure that the car, which would eventually become Ryan Newman's, was able to go to Daytona for the start of 2009 locked in the field. "He dangled a great carrot in front of us to get it done, and we did. "So, the season ends and I did my job, but I'm out of work, again." During the offseason, Riggs' phone rang, mostly with offers to join organizations less established than the one he had just left. So he waited. "There were days, even early on during that offseason, that it occurred to me that I might not have a ride for 2009," he says. "In fact, I spent so much time and energy last winter looking for work that I did not have an offseason. Setting up meetings and working the phones, calling every contact I'd ever made, was harder than anything I'd ever done in racing." When a seat with start-up Tommy Baldwin Racing came available, it may have been Riggs' last chance. "I had turned down other jobs, hoping something better would emerge. Nothing better ever did, so a job with Tommy was my best shot," Riggs says. "I knew we were taking a switchblade to a gunfight. I really wanted to prove that we could do more with less, like [independent owner/driver, Alan] Kulwicki did back in the day. With no testing and everyone scaling back, this was the year to make a run at doing more with less." What they did was work their way to a start and park at Richmond and unemployment for Riggs. Though he certainly endured more than his share of bad breaks, there is no single explanation for Riggs' star-crossed career. "He's had some of the worst luck," Hendrick says. "He's fallen victim to just about every kind of bad circumstance that can happen in racing: mechanical failures, penalties, pit stop errors. You name it, and Scott Riggs has suffered for it." His bad fortune, however, can't be solely attributed to the Fates. "As with a lot of athletes, Scott Riggs' only downfall might be a lack of confidence in himself," Evernham says. "Professional sports are loaded with rosters filled out by great, hardworking guys who never reach the top." Pollex is quick to point out that Riggs is a driver of incredible talent. "I call it a 'great butt.' He's got an amazing feel for the car," Pollex says. "Sure, he's had some tough breaks and close calls, but what's held him back is not talent. "Today, we just want our drivers to be plug-and-play, get in the car and go like hell. We want guys who ooze confidence 24/7 — even if it's false. Some drivers are like that. Scott is not one of them." Two of Riggs' former crew chiefs agree. "He's way too hard on himself," says Rodney Childers, who served with Riggs at MB2/MBV and at Evernham. "I don't feel like he's done anything wrong except beat himself up and lose confidence." "More often than not, his team let him down. Those are the things that bother Scott, but they weren't his fault," Evernham says. "He's the first guy to put his hand up and accept responsibility for something he's done wrong. But once you do that, you've got to let it go. What's done is done. You can't carry guilt and beat yourself up to where you're just so down that you never get back up." "For Scott, confidence is a big factor in how well he runs," says Doug Randolph, who started with Riggs in the Busch Series and went with him to MB2/MBV. "There are some guys who walk into the room confident, tell you they're going to win and then do. I can always tell when Scott's feeling good, feeling strong. I know him well enough to read his body language. It's the same when things go wrong. He can't hide it. It means too much to him. He is way too hard on himself. When he's confident, he bubbles. He actually glows." For Evernham, the owner with whom Riggs came so close to breaking out in 2006, the lack of a single Cup win lingers. "You know he has the ability to win races, but it's not there in the record book," he says. "There's no trophy on the shelf to point to. It's a shame." "He is the most talented driver I know that is sitting out without a ride," Hendrick says. "In the right situation, he would do well in Cup." But Evernham cautions that Riggs will never be Jimmie Johnson. "It doesn't matter if you put him in the 48 today," he says. "It's not fair or realistic to think he'd be a three-time champ. However, Scott is a top-20 guy." Quick to acknowledge that there isn't anything missing in Riggs, Barker (inset) is also reluctant to compare him to the top divers in NASCAR. "I don't like to make statements like, 'Put him in the 18 or 48 and …,' Barker says. "Remember, the 18 didn't do too well with J.J. Yeley. That team became exceptional when they got an exceptional driver. Scott can get it done, but to wonder what would happen if you put him in the 18, or put him in the 48 is not a fair comparison." So, what's next? No one knows. Riggs says he has faith in God's plan, but the uncertainty is taking its toll. "These years have been a struggle," he says. "I struggle with it internally. I'm not really sure how I do it. My family doesn't know how I do it. I'm high-strung. "Ironically, I'm more confident now than ever before on the track, in the shop, understanding these cars, everything. I'm at my best and yet I'm not racing." "For me, it's hard to watch him struggle," Jai says. "It's been hard to see him endure so many disappointments, but we've been blessed to have a lot of really good times. "The hope is always that if you ride out the bad, some more good is right around the corner. Unfortunately, lately, there has been more bad than good." "What's hard is getting so close to your dream that you can smell it and the dew is dripping off the fruit onto your lips, it's so close, and you don't get there," Riggs says. His wife knows better than anyone how badly Riggs wants another shot at that elusive Cup win. "I think that will be the hardest thing for him to deal with if it's over," she says. "He's still got something to prove." "I dream about victory lane all the time," Scott says. Asked what will happen if he never gets back in a race car, even for another ride on NASCAR's bubble, Riggs searches for the right words. "I don't know. I'd love to say I'll be fine," he says. "That's the mature answer. But without racing I will feel lost and know that I will have to live the rest of my days with a burning flame in my soul that cannot be extinguished." This story originally appeared in the October 2009 issue of NASCAR Illustrated. Tom Higgins Scuffs Darlington's tireless Tommy Britt surely in line for honor Tim Richmond's face grew redder and redder, his voice louder and louder.
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 |
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