Happy Hump day to you. Today In Nascar History February 24, 2002: Michael Waltrip's 500th Cup start ends early when his engine fails after 173 laps of the Subway 400 at Rockingham. Waltrip finishes 40th. Matt Kenseth wins for his second Cup victory. Picture yourself cruising in Tony's 2010 Camaro Coupe 2SS. It's a "Summit White", list price at over $35,000! Tony asked Will Castro of Unique Autosports to work his magic and add a few customizations! Buy a ticket for $50 – you'll be entered to win the Grand Prize including the Camaro, A VIP Trip to Stewart-Haas Racing and a personal meet & greet with Tony!!! 70 Early Bird prizes starting March 15th. Get 'em while you can!!!! Just go to www.smokescamaro. Comments from the Peanut Gallery From Pops Momma The type of racing seen at Fontana is the real type spread out racing I like to see. The cars were over 200 mph in various places on the speedway and it appeared to be a driver controlled race unlike Daytona and Talladega. Both of those tracks need to forget restrictor plates and spread the field out. I do not like seeing 40 cars bunched up two and three wide like several funeral processions running side by side...that ain't racing! If Mr. France wants to add races on to other tracks have one race to start the year at Daytona and the last race of the season at Talladega take one race from each and give it to other 1 1/2 or 2 mile tracks, and run those races without the restrictions .
Pops Bits and Pieces Blickensderfer Back on Edwards' Nationwide Pit Box By Reid Spencer Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service The move comes a week after veteran Todd Parrott took over for Blickensderfer as crew chief for Matt Kenseth's No. 17 Sprint Cup team. Kelley takes on a new job title as competition director for Roush Fenway's Nationwide Series program and, as such, will be responsible for the building of the cars and the transition from the current Nationwide car (Ford Fusion) to the new one (Ford Mustang), which will be phased into the series this year. Before taking over Kenseth's Cup team in 2009, Blickensderfer served as Edwards' crew chief for the final 19 Nationwide races of 2008. Together they won seven times and rallied to challenge for the series championship before finishing second to Clint Bowyer by 21 points. Edwards closed the season with nine straight top-five finishes. Blickensderfer won his first two races with Kenseth (including the 2009 Daytona 500), but the team has been winless since. Kenseth said last week at Fontana the team lacked a spark and he felt a change was necessary one race into the season. On the other hand, Edwards and Blickensderfer clicked immediately after Blickensderfer replaced Pierre Kuettel on the Nationwide car in June 2008. "Drew is a wonderful team builder," team owner Jack Roush said. "He will bring Car of Tomorrow experience to the Nationwide shop. Carl and Drew have a strong track record together." Concurrent with Kelley's promotion, Mike Beam will move from competition director for RFR's Nationwide effort to the research-and- Hendrick concerned about axle problem: There is some concern at Hendrick Motorsports that the broken axle that left #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. with a 32nd-place finish on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway could be a more widespread problem. Earnhardt's crew chief, Lance McGrew, said the axle of race winner Jimmie Johnson was about six laps from breaking and that issues were discovered on other HMS cars during Saturday's final practice. "Oh, absolutely," McGrew told ESPN.com on Tuesday. "I'm sweating this weekend along with Atlanta, which is historically really bad on axles. To say there's not a stir about it would be an understatement. Tums scheme for Reutimann at Vegas: Michael Waltrip Racing's #00 Toyota Camry of David Reutimann is featuring new partner TUMS as the primary sponsor at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the first of five primary paint schemes this season. The #00 TUMS Toyota also will appear at Martinsville- What driver reached 50 wins in the fewest starts in Cup Series history?: With #48-Jimmie Johnson at 48 wins in 293 starts, who was the fastest driver to win 50 Sprint Cup Series races? That would be #24-Jeff Gordon, who won his 50th race in his 232nd start, the fastest of any driver.(see more stats/notes at ESPN.com) TRG gains assoc sponsor..."' ThatsRacin.com Opinion Hubbub over Danica Patrick spinning out of control By Ron Kantowski - Las Vegas Review-Journal LAS VEGAS - On Sunday, I received a congratulatory e-mail from a reader who wanted to thank for me for writing seven paragraphs about NASCAR without once mentioning Danica Sue Patrick. Assume the crash position, Howie R. of North Las Vegas. You are not going to like this. She still goes by Danica Patrick. But because she's now driving fast cars with doors and tin tops, for another week anyway and then 10 more during late summer and early fall, it's only a matter of time before they give her a third name, too. Like the time somebody asked Darrell Waltrip about his pick to win the Indy 500. "I gotta go with Bobby Ray," he said. "Bobby Ray?" "Yeah. Bobby Ray Hall." The driver from the wine-and-cheese circuit Waltrip was referring to was Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indy 500 winner. Without the "y" and the space and the capital "H." I think Waltrip knew that, but then one can never be sure. I also think by the time Jimmie Johnson races under the checkered flag at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, where Jimmie Johnson almost always races under the checkered flag first, people are going to be tired of reading about Danica Sue Patrick. Or, because this is Las Vegas, where we prefer one name to three, just plain Danica. Although, judging from her annual bathing suit pictures in "Sports Illustrated, Writing about NASCAR these days without mentioning Danica is like going to the symphony and not mentioning the violin player or going to the ballet and not mentioning the girl pirouetting dressed like Johnny Weir. It cannot be done. Well, maybe it can be done on Sunday, on the low side, but that's only because Ms. Patrick doesn't race on Sunday. If, however, there's a rain delay or the track starts falling apart, watch if ol' Darrell Waltrip doesn't mention Danica Sue's name faster than you can say Junior Johnson. I haven't seen this much hubbub for a driver in the developmental Nationwide series since Jason Keller was named driver of the Slim Jim Chevrolet back in the days when the wives of NASCAR drivers did not resemble supermodels and when their husbands all had mustaches. OK, bad analogy, because not all of the drivers had mustaches. Now a lot of them have beards. And some seem to be growing a little weary of Danica, or at least growing a little weary of walking around five "Entertainment Tonight" film crews and four Mary Hart look-alikes every time they need to return to the garage for a socket wrench or, in the case of the Las Vegas-born Busch Brothers, giant dark sunglasses. It's not like that on the IndyCar circuit, where Danica has been burning rubber for five years and where she will be returning after Sunday. That's partly because women have been racing at Indianapolis since the 1970s -- there were three in each of the past three 500-mile races -- and partly because they accept Danica as one of the boys, those bathing suit pictures notwithstanding. Except, of course, Bobby Unser, who doesn't accept anything. Danica is a pretty good (but not great) IndyCar driver. If one saw her finish third at Indy last year by driving the wheels off a noncompetitive car, or saw her beat high-profile teammates Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti in final points, one would also understand the enthusiasm for her heavy right foot. It takes a right foot heavier than the Incredible Hulk's to beat a Brazilian and an Andretti. Although there is a huge difference between IndyCar apples and NASCAR oranges, a lot of people from places such as Kannapolis and Hueytown and Level Cross and the South Boston in Virginia are expecting Danica to make orange juice right out of the box, not finish 31st and three laps off the pace in California. Remind me again: How many years did it take for John Elway to win the Super Bowl? As for the off-the-track sideshow and the GoDaddy.com commercials, well, if it wouldn't have been Danica Patrick, it would have been somebody else. Or a monkey. That's just the way it is today. Or was, during the old days. Do a Google search for "NASCAR" and "Jocko Flocko." You'll thank me in the morning. Hutchens one of Stewart's winners By Jeff Wolf - Las Vegas Review-Journal LAS VEGAS - Bobby Hutchens didn't know what to expect from his new Stewart-Haas Racing team a year ago. "We were just trying to get to the track and hoping we could win a race before the end of the year," Hutchens said Saturday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. The team's competition director joined the operation after two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart became a partner with Gene Haas in July 2008 season while wrapping up his career with Joe Gibbs Racing where he won Cup championships in 2002 and 2005. Stewart attracted major sponsorships and delivered a championship attitude. Even Stewart was surprised he won four times last year for the new team and was atop the standings for much of the year before finishing sixth in points. Teammate Ryan Newman, who Stewart hired to be his teammate, didn't win a race but qualified for the Chase for the Championship and finished ninth. The success was unprecedented for a relatively new team but Hutchens, who worked with the late Dale Earnhardt at Childress Racing during the team's heyday, will accept nothing more than the same this year. "We were so far behind at this point last year we were just barely getting cars done to get them to the track, Hutchens said. "Now we have a stable of cars and some choices. There's a lot more ease to us being together." Stewart joined what was at best a mid-pack team. He brought with him a keen business sense and gift of surrounding himself with talented people. "He's given us all the tools we need," Hutchens said of Stewart. "He understands the dynamic of this business from both sides; the business side and racing side. He understands what it takes to make it work on racetracks and from the dollar side." Stewart's talent and fan base helped to get Office Depot to leave Carl Edwards and Roush Fenway Racing as his primary sponsor. The U.S. Army left another team to back Newman. Old Spice followed him from Gibbs. "It's change to where corporate sponsors are beginning to stay with the driver instead of always staying with the owner," Stewart said. This weekend in the Cup race at Las Vegas, Stewart-Haas will introduce Ruiz Foods of Southern California as a new sponsor for Newman with its Tornados taquitos brand. And that adds to Hutchens intent to do even better this season. "You don't want to let sponsors down or fans down. We set the bar high last year and we hope to be above that bar this year. I don't see a sophomore jinx happening. Everyone is focused on being better. "Getting Ryan a win is high on our priority list these first five or six races." That puts more pressure on the team after Newman failed to finish the first two races due to a multi-car accident at Daytona and a blown engine Sunday at Fontana, Calif. But Stewart has never shied away from pressure and neither have any of those he has hired. A fast car and a golden horseshoe Darrell Waltrip/foxsports. Well folks, I finally think the Sprint Cup competitors have figured it out. You have to admit that the Lowe's team had a great car Sunday in Fontana. Jimmie Johnson had his hands full with Kevin Harvick, though. Those two put on one heck of a show. They passed each other lap after lap. It actually looked like the No. 29 was the better car most of the day. You especially saw it shine on the longer runs during the race. I say it but will keep saying it. Don't get mad at Jimmie Johnson. Don't get mad at crew chief Chad Knaus. Don't get mad at team owner Rick Hendrick. Richard Childress has now shown everyone what the blueprint is. Quit worrying about the other guy and improve your program. Focus on what you can control. Get your program to at least where the Hendrick camp is and then you have a legitimate shot at beating them. I found it interesting that our top two finishers from the Daytona 500, Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr., couldn't carry that momentum all the way through the California race. Sin City, here we come By Chris Symeon - The Sports Network LAS VEGAS - One of the biggest stories so far in the early Sprint Cup Series season is the resurgence of Richard Childress Racing. No driver in the RCR stable finished better than 15th in points last year, in what was one of the most disappointing seasons in the organization' RCR's three drivers -- Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton -- have finished no worse than 11th in the first two races this season. After last Sunday's race at California, the trio are sitting in the top-five in points. Harvick currently holds a 19-point lead over Bowyer, while Burton occupies the fifth spot (-31). The one thing missing for RCR right now is a trip to Victory Lane, but Las Vegas Motor Speedway might be the site where the team cashes in. Harvick has been winless in the last 109 points-paying races. Despite back-to- back victories in the pre-season Budweiser Shootout at Daytona and a win in the 2007 All-Star Race at Charlotte, Harvick's last Cup victory came three years ago in the Daytona 500. Burton is the last RCR driver to win a race, which occurred in October 2008 at Charlotte. Las Vegas has been one of Burton's better tracks since the series started racing there in 1998. He finished second in the inaugural Las Vegas event and then followed up with consecutive wins there from 1999-2000 when he drove for Roush Fenway Racing. Burton finished third in last year's race. "It's a track that I've had a lot of success," Burton said. "Everytime we go there, I feel like we've got a great chance to win the race." Bowyer gave RCR its best performance at Las Vegas one year ago when he finished second. LVMS underwent a major renovation in 2006, with banking in the turns increased from 12 degrees to 20, and six degrees of banking added on the backstretch. Jimmie Johnson won at the 1.5-mile track consecutively from 2005-07, including the first race there after its reconfiguration. "With the paving job they did a couple of years ago, the track is a lot faster than it's been in the past," Johnson said. "I'm not sure what the asphalt has done over the off-season and how much speed it's lost, but that track went from being a slippery track that you had to manage your time and manage your lap time around the track to a place that you have to manage." Johnson is coming off a victory at California. The four-time defending Cup champion moved up to 12th in points following a 35th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500. Kyle Busch is the defending race winner. Busch, a native of Las Vegas, won the pole but was forced to start from the rear of the field due to an engine change. He held off Bowyer and Burton in a three-lap shootout to the finish for his first victory at his hometrack. "It was awesome, just the feeling of a lifetime," Kyle Busch said of his 2009 Las Vegas win. "I told everyone that it would be just like another race, but it really meant a lot more than that when I got to Victory Lane. To have my mom there and my brother come to Victory Lane just made it that much more special." Forty-six teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Shelby American. Shelby American - Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Las Vegas NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Date: Sunday. Start time: 3 p.m. ET. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Laps: 267. Miles: 400.5. 2009 winner: Kyle Busch. Television: FOX. Radio: Performance Racing Network (PRN) /SIRIUS NASCAR Radio. Will Junior Nation Double Down on Despair?
Picking and Choosing Start and Parks Mediocrity Locked In Is Jimmie Johnson Ruining NASCAR? By Greg Engle CupScene.com Editor, NASCAR Examiner Blue Deuce Could Be Wild Card In The Chase By Mike Harris | Senior Writer | RacinToday.com When Kyle Busch was still a raw teenager getting his feet wet in NASCAR, older brother Kurt was already a stock car star. But Kurt was quick to warn anybody who would listen that his kid brother was the real deal. "If you think I'm pretty good, wait until you see Kyle,'' he was fond of saying. Kurt was right. The kid, now a rather experienced 25-year-old, is one of the big names of NASCAR's Sprint Cup series, with almost unlimited potential and driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, one of the strongest teams in the sport. In a lot of ways, the youngster has eclipsed his 31-year-old brother, even though Kurt has the family's only Cup title (2004) and leads the brotherly competition in Cup wins, 20-16. The younger Busch, still learning his trade, has also been a force in NASCAR's other two professional series, winning the Nationwide Series title last season and already the proud possessor of 31 race wins in the second-tier series and 16 more in trucks. So it's no surprise that Kurt has become the "other'' brother in the minds of many fans. But don't feel sorry for him. The elder Busch, who finished fourth in the Cup points last season – trailing only the powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports trio of Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon – is hoping to give team owner Roger Penske his first NASCAR championship this season. Despite that finish, Kurt has started the season under the radar. While everyone expects Johnson and his teammates to battle for the title, along with JGR's Denny Hamlin, hardly anyone mentions Kurt Busch and championship in the same breath. Two good reasons for that: Penske Racing could be at a disadvantage this year as the only Dodge team in Cup and Busch is starting the year with a brand new crew chief – Steve Addington, who previously worked with his brother. But none of that bothers Kurt Busch, who could hardly wait for the 2010 season to begin. "The Blue Deuce (his No. 2 Dodge) is going to be competitive,'' Busch said in the weeks leading up to the season-opening Daytona 500. "The first thing we have to do is make the Chase (for the Cup championship) Busch led 33 laps at Daytona before a late pit stop relegated him to a 23rd-place finish. Last Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA, he stepped it up to a sixth-place run and now stands 11th in the points heading home to Las Vegas. Busch, who grew up in Sin City, would love to match his brother's 2009 Cup victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "I know just how much last year's win meant to Kyle and it was a thrill to be part of such a huge hometown win like that,'' Addington said. "We're on a mission to get Kurt a big winner's trophy of his own in Vegas this weekend. I know how special a Las Vegas win would be for Kurt and it would be a great accomplishment if we can pull it off. "One of the biggest things I remember about winning last year's Vegas race was seeing Kurt come into Victory Lane, congratulate his little brother and give him a big hug," Addington added. "Their mom (Gaye) was our team scorer for the 18 car and she was right there soaking the scene all in with her two sons. It was a memorable occasion, that's for sure.'' The memories of that day are vivid for Kurt as well. "It was a special win at a very special place for our family, so I made a mad dash over through the Neon Garage and into Victory Lane to congratulate my little brother," the elder Busch noted. "I've always dreamed about winning the race there at our home track and we had a strong car there last year until we had the engine problem. But as everyone knows, you have to be there at the end. Kyle drove a great race and saved the best for last. I wanted to let him know how proud of him that I was, so that's why I hustled on down there like I did. "Little did I know only a year ago that the guy who helped Kyle win the Vegas race would be our team leader coming back into Las Vegas Motor Speedway this time around," Busch said. "It's really easy to get pumped up.'' Busch will drive Dodge chassis 702 in this week's race, something he considers an omen of good things to come. "We're taking the (2009 fall) Texas race-winner, the 702 car, into Vegas, which everybody knows is the 702 area code,'' he said. "All the good things seem to be lining up for this weekend. It's a true confidence builder to head back into Vegas knowing that you have a guy calling the shots for us who won the thing there last year.'' A win this early in the season would be a big boost for Busch, who has never finished better than third in nine Cup races at Las Vegas. That doesn't worry the veteran driver, though. "It's home,'' he said. "We feel comfortable there. We just have to go out and finish the job this time.'' If Kurt does that, Kyle will just have to share the spotlight for at least a while longer. Did You Notice? Thomas Bowles · Frontstretch. Toyota's Engine Woes, Five Reasons To Fail Fontana, And Reeling Roush Did You Notice? … That Michael Waltrip Racing-supported cars have suffered five of Sprint Cup's seven engine failures this year? OK, so maybe the start-and-park efforts of Prism Motorsports shouldn't be counted, but that's still an alarming rate to be losing motors (their failure rate for 2010 is nearly 50 percent). It would be one thing if MWR were making all their engines in-house, like Joe Gibbs Racing. But these are motors sent directly from TRD, making you scratch your head and wonder why they're failing on those three cars when Team Red Bull hasn't had a single problem yet. What's even stranger is that these failures are happening to specific cars within the MWR fleet. David Reutimann hasn't had a mechanical failure in nearly two years, but cars driven by Waltrip, Marcos Ambrose, and Martin Truex, Jr. have totaled up seven in the last 34 races by themselves. The team claims there's no such thing as a hierarchy, that everybody gets the same level of technical and engine support. But those numbers make you wonder if certain cars – especially the No. 47 – are starting the year on some sort of experimental R&D. Ambrose has suffered the most through the mess, his Chase chances already on life support due to failures outside his control. And considering the mess Toyota is in off the track – CEO Akio Toyoda was in a Congressional hearing Tuesday about the manufacturers' acceleration problems – you wonder where racing engines lie on their list of priorities. Not exactly the smooth transition Waltrip expected from driver to owner, huh? Did You Notice? … Jeff Gluck's column this week claiming Auto Club Speedway should still have two dates? Since this is the hot topic of the week (and I couldn't disagree more), I thought a great way to throw my opinion on the table would be in the form of a good-natured rebuttal. So, in order of Jeff's five points, here's why Auto Club keeping two dates would be an absolute travesty: #1) Jeff: This isn't about attendance. Attendance may not be the criteria through which fans judge race dates, but to NASCAR the "ka-ching" of those turnstiles mean more than anything else. In the end, it's all about cold, hard cash and ISC isn't going to stick around at a place where not enough tickets are sold – especially with their profit margins on life support. With that in mind, let's take a look at the seven lowest-attended races from last year (all ISC tracks, by the way). Keep in mind these estimates include fans that camped in the infield: Martinsville (Spring) – 63,000 Which of these will lose the Kansas 2011 sweepstakes? Well let's take Darlington, Chicagoland, and Homestead out of the equation right away, as they're one-date wonders that aren't disappearing anytime soon. That leaves just Martinsville and Fontana left on the list. But while Martinsville had fewer people, the difference between the two is seating capacity. Martinsville's is 65,000, while California's is 92,000. That means while demand for Martinsville tickets remains high – even with infield campers, around 90 percent of tickets were sold for both races – California sold just 50-60 percent of their seats. That's important, because low demand forces Gillian Zucker to keep prices down, trimming the profit margins despite the track's sponsorship from Auto Club. And while Zucker is pulling strings and spending money to get all these B- celebrities to the Speedway, the only thing Martinsville's spending money on are those pink little hot dogs that give you a smile and a heart attack all in one. I might be guessing here, but I don't think they're quite as expensive as Styx … Look, I still think Michigan could be in the running for these low attendance numbers due to how the state is falling apart. But barring a surprise, Martinsville and California will finish on the bottom of the attendance list once again; and for the stockholders that will ultimately have a say, those numbers are what's going to drive their decision-making. It's just basic business sense. #2) NASCAR in California is a long-term process. I agree that NASCAR wasn't going to catch fire the second it stepped foot in southern California. But to say it's a long-term process is ignoring the fact we've been in this market since 1997. It's not like the sport just pulled up last year and said, "Hey, California! Here were are!" So after fourteen years, you'd think some type of NASCAR fan base would begin to take root. It hasn't. Let's take a look at attendance the last seven years at California: 2003 (One Date) – 120,000 That doesn't look like a long-term success story to me – more like a long-term exodus to the mecca of USC football, the newest Hollywood bar, and virtually anything else other than cars going around in circles. I'm not saying L.A. is an easy market to crack – the NFL doesn't even have a team there – but they've also made it painfully clear NASCAR's just not high on their list. And let's get one thing straight: if NASCAR drivers want to reel in new fans, why the heck aren't they scouring the streets in L.A., holding public events that'll help engage interest in the sport? The answer is they're not doing community-based initiatives. Instead, they're hopping on national programs like Loveline and The Ellen DeGeneres Show that they can be a part of any old time. Most of the driver appearances I saw this year were limited to the Fontana area only, a completely separate community from L.A. (We'll get to that in a minute). So if NASCAR's long-term goal has been to break through in Hollywood, it's gonna be hard if all you're doing is showing up to party or make a 15-minute cameo appearance. "What should they do?" you might be asking. Well, what about doing a charity go kart race somewhere in downtown L.A.? Or working with the Lakers to pop up at the Staples Center during one of their games? You've got to go where the people are – not play celebrity for four days and then get out. #3) Sponsors want to be near L.A. Sure, sponsors want to be near the country's second-largest city. But is Fontana really all that close? Answer: no. I've done the drive from Fontana to L.A. many times to hang out with friends on race weekend. With no traffic whatsoever, it's a 45-minute drive – but that's pulling my best NASCAR impression of 80-85 miles an hour. Typically, you'll hit at least one traffic jam on the way, leaving "sponsors" 60 to 90 minutes outside the No. 2 market they crave. Don't believe me? Go poll a random group of 50 out-of-towners and ask them what airport they fly into on race weekend. I'd guarantee you about 75-80 percent will say Ontario, NOT downtown LAX … because it's just too far away. I think that's a big part of the problem, that the sport built this track in an area where it's not smack in the middle of the city itself. Nowadays, with the attention span of the general public, sponsors need to be wined and dined outside the race track, and the outskirts of Fontana make it feel more like a Richmond – not the second-largest city it's supposed to be a part of. Also, keep in mind this argument is all about cutting from two dates to one. It's not like the sport's leaving L.A. altogether; if Kansas takes away a date, you've still got the October night race smack in the middle of the Chase. And wouldn't a full-bore, one-time effort selling NASCAR's playoffs be more effective? One race in the L.A. market would still be "special" in its own way. #4) The racing stinks, but … Ladies and gentlemen, we're on board NASCAR 2010, a ship that's been rapidly sinking the last few years. If Brian France is to follow through with this new "listen to the fans" mentality, there must NEVER be a but next to the words "the racing stinks." If it stinks, and ISC isn't going to put money into the track to fix it, well then … one of the dates must go, and the sport needs to go out and spice up the one that's left (we'll get to that). There's a method of thinking from Jeff's point here that really bothers me: However, I know some of those people are hardcore, devoted NASCAR fans. They'll continue to watch every week on TV and likely attend races in Las Vegas, Phoenix or Sonoma. So in that respect, it may be better to view Fontana as a "Racing 101" track: It's an introduction for new NASCAR fans to see what the sport is about, even if they may not return there. Sorry Jeff, but that just doesn't make any sense. It's good for the sport for fans to attend their first race at Fontana, then go back and tell their friends how much they hated it? I'll tell you this much, if I was bored at a NASCAR track and people said the competition was better at a place like, say, Sonoma, I wouldn't believe them. I'd just think to myself "This sport's not all it's cracked up to be" and go spend my money somewhere else. NASCAR has enough fans turning off the television these days. We need to turn the tide of public perception; and half-filled stands of napping fans, some of them racing rookies whose attachment lasted all of five minutes, isn't the way to get it done. #5) Once is not enough. Jeff closes with the argument one date at the speedway renders a NASCAR visit virtually meaningless. See this line below: But taking a race away from California completely defeats the purpose of being there at all. If NASCAR is committed to growing the sport on the West Coast and in the L.A. area, it needs to keep coming twice per year and get new fans exposed to its stars – the drivers. Hmm. Under that philosophy, shouldn't we cut races at Infineon, Watkins Glen, Chicagoland, Kansas, Darlington, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, and Homestead? After all, these tracks have just one date (many in major markets), but I guess that's not enough to expose fans to their favorite drivers. People are so concerned about the backlash a cutback creates they forget about what's happened at places like Darlington. Attendance there has skyrocketed since NASCAR cut their dates in half, with the Mother's Day weekend selling out four years in a row. I expect a similar phenomenon over in Atlanta, where the Labor Day Weekend race far outpaced the Spring in attendance last season (rumor has it in 2011 we'll be spending Atlanta's Spring weekend in Kentucky instead). The same thing can happen in Fontana, even if we don't fix the track. Here's what we do: keep the date in October, make it a night race on Columbus Day weekend, and shorten the distance to 300 miles. As we've seen the last two years, every once in a while this 2-mile oval shows some signs of life. How about a Sunday night shootout under the lights, where just 150 laps could make or break the difference in the midst of a playoff battle? Pair it with some of ABC's primetime shows, helicopter in some better celebrities, and you're putting your best foot forward in this market. Oh, and maybe you do a Chase go kart race in L.A. while you're at it, similar to the Times Square deal up in New York City. Even if that doesn't happen, the bottom line is leaving one race in L.A. won't be the end of the world. I'd prefer the second date go somewhere where the racing's light years better (cough … Iowa … cough), but Kansas has shown its fair share of potential in recent years. At this point, pretty much any track would be a viable alternative for an experiment that everyone left behind long ago – except the sport's officials themselves. Did You Notice? … This column's already long enough, so I'll close with a few quick hits before breaking loose: - It's amazing to hear inside the garage how no one's taking the first few races all that seriously due to NASCAR's transition to a new spoiler. It's like teams are looking at this regular season as if it's split in two; and since the wing is here for only five to six races, most feel you can't really separate contenders from pretenders until the new handling configurations come into play mid-April. - Roush Fenway Racing was shut out of the top 5 for the second straight race at Fontana. Considering that had happened only once before, and we've been racing there for 14 years … that's not a good sign they're ready to dig out of their slump just yet. - It's still early, but among the drivers yet to lead a lap this season: Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards. Along those lines, is it just me or does Stewart-Haas look like it hasn't quite recovered from stumbling through last year's Chase? Five things with... Raygan Swan, NASCAR.COM Speed dishes on Golden Girl fav With solid finishes at Daytona and Fontana, Scott Speed is proving he won't be relegated to the open-wheel graveyard. Notorious for painting his toe nails blue before a Dover Truck Series victory, this Formula One transfer is 15th in the Cup Series point standings. 1. If one of NASCAR's star wheelmen had his own reality show, who would you tune into and why? Speed: Kyle Busch, because he is funny. Also, if his dad Tom Busch would be involved that would be awesome because that guy is really funny. 2. Was that Hank Williams Jr. on stage in those gold shades at the Daytona 500 or was Tim McGraw just having an off day? Speed: I don't listen to country so I don't care. 3. Did you ever believe in the Easter Bunny, if so, what was the best thing he ever brought you as a kid? Speed: Not sure about the Bunny, but loved the Easter egg hunts. I kicked butt in those! 4. Of all the cute canines in the driver's lot, who would have the best shot at Westminster' Speed: I am partial to Kelly and Susie (Busch's West Highland White Terriers) because they are really the only ones I know. 5. Betty White is making a comeback. Who was your favorite Golden Girl? Blanche, Dorothy, Rose or Sophia and why? Speed: Blanche! She was like the original cougar and if I remember correctly, she was smokin' hot! Bonus ... Gnarly facial hair seems to be en vogue these days. Should drivers bring back the Tom Selleck stash? Speed: NASCAR isn't ready for the stash just yet. 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 |
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