Kenseth's run-in with Gordon paves way for Hamlin
Ed Hinton/espn.com
The practice of drivers settling things among themselves continued Monday at Martinsville Speedway, but for a little while Jeff Gordon wondered if he might have settled with the wrong driver.
He hadn't. It turned out he'd paid back only one of two culprits at the end of the Goody's 500.
Replays showed Matt Kenseth was indeed the one who hit Gordon first in the green-white-checkered overtime that cost Gordon a much-needed win. Kenseth even confirmed it himself to reporters at the track.
Gordon led on that final restart, but Kenseth tapped him going into the first turn, causing Gordon's car to slip up off the bottom of the track, and Kenseth drove under.
Then Denny Hamlin, who would go on to win the melee, hit Gordon squarely in the back bumper as the dogfight continued off Turn 2.
Hamlin slipped into the lead while Gordon and Kenseth banged side by side down the straightaway.
Gordon at first told TV reporters that "I made sure he [Kenseth] wasn't going to win the race after that [bump from behind]," and punctuated it with a tight-lipped smile.
But later, in the postrace news conference, Gordon hedged, "I thought it was the 17 [Kenseth]. If it wasn't, I apologize to him."
Kenseth confessed -- sort of.
"I did go in there and I did get into Jeff a little bit, really not that hard," Kenseth said. "I got under him and everything was fine and he just took a left as hard as he could take one, and ran me down all the way into the marbles."
Hamlin had pitted for tires with 10 laps left in regulation to give Gordon, who stayed out on the track, the lead. Then Gordon appeared headed for the win until Kyle Busch wrecked just moments before the white flag, to cause the green-white-checkered.
"We were a hundred feet away from getting that white flag, getting the victory," Gordon said. "But I shouldn't be too upset. We were a third-place car before that, and we finished third."
Kenseth wound up 18th and said of his actions, "It's nothing Jeff wouldn't have done, or hasn't done, to me."
"The way he raced me today, I don't think was the way I would have raced him," Gordon said. And, "If somebody hits me, I'm going to hit him. If he hit me, I'm glad I did what I did on the back straightaway. If a guy gives you a cheap shot like that, he doesn't deserve to win the race, in my opinion.
"If that didn't happen, and I have not seen the video, then again, I'll be the first one to call him this week and apologize."
He needn't.
And the best news was that NASCAR said nothing about pondering penalties for either driver. So NASCAR continues to let 'em rip.
Retro Racing
Mark Aumann
Since 1972, only two races held on Easter weekend
Both memorable for big names involved and not involved
Since the advent of the modern era schedule in 1972, NASCAR officials have taken great pains to avoid scheduling a Cup race on Easter weekend. But on two occasions, weather postponements forced NASCAR to change its plans, and in both instances, a seven-time champion was a major part of the storyline.
There were several instances of races taking place on Easter weekend before the Cup schedule was reduced to eliminate dirt tracks and those shorter than a half-mile in length following the 1971 campaign. The first of Buck Baker's 46 Cup victories came on Holy Saturday in 1952 at Columbia, S.C.
One year later, Dick Passwater scored his only Cup victory on Easter Sunday before a crowd of 8,500 at the old Charlotte Speedway. That also was the first time Tim Flock carried a Rhesus monkey nicknamed Jocko Flocko inside his car. That experiment came to an abrupt end eight races later when Jocko literally went ape inside the car at Raleigh, scratching and clawing at Flock before he managed to pull into the pits and have the crew pull Jocko off his neck.
The Thomas brothers -- Herb and Donald -- finished 1-2 in an Easter Sunday event at Hillsboro in 1954. The only Good Friday race in NASCAR's history books was run three years later at Charlotte's Southern States Fairgrounds, with Fireball Roberts taking the checkered flag.
In 1959 and '60, Wilson's fairgrounds track hosted a pair of Easter Sunday races, with Junior Johnson and Joe Weatherly winning. The following year, Emanuel Zervakis won at Greenville on Holy Saturday and Cotton Owens followed with an Easter Sunday victory at Hillsboro.
During the '60s, Greenville hosted a number of races on Easter weekend, usually on Saturdays with a companion race being run on the Monday after Easter. In 1965, Dick Hutcherson won at Greenville and Junior Johnson followed two days later with a victory at North Wilkesboro.
In 1966, David Pearson completed the Easter weekend sweep, winning at Greenville on Saturday and Winston-Salem on Monday. Pearson successfully defended his Greenville victory in '67, but Bobby Allison captured the flag at Winston-Salem that season.
In 1969, Bobby Isaac led the entire 250-lap distance at Hickory to win on Easter Sunday, with Dave Marcis scoring his first career top-five finish. One year later, Bobby Allison took the checkered first at Atlanta. And in '71, ABC's Wide World of Sports first showed a NASCAR event live in its entirety when it broadcast Isaac's win in a 200-lapper at Greenville on Holy Saturday.
NASCAR didn't race on Easter weekend again until 1985, when a rainout forced the Bristol race to be rescheduled for the day before Easter. Despite losing the power steering in his Chevrolet within the first 100 laps, Dale Earnhardt literally muscled his car past Ricky Rudd with 17 laps remaining to win.
After leading at least one lap in every Bristol race during a 10-race period, Darrell Waltrip's amazing streak was snapped that day, mainly because he and Bill Elliott were collected in an early race incident involving Terry Labonte and Lake Speed. Waltrip then retired with engine problems.
Weather also played a factor in the most recent Cup race run on Easter Sunday. In 1989, snow forced Richmond to reschedule, and a crowd estimated by The Associated Press at 50,000 turned out under sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s to see a race that didn't include Richard Petty.
Petty failed to qualify, snapping his Cup starting streak at 513 races. Because of that, NASCAR's rules for provisional starting spots later would be amended to include one for past champions.
Rusty Wallace wound up edging Alan Kulwicki for the win, taking advantage of a late-race caution to beat Kulwicki out of the pits and then maintain the lead for the final 20 laps following the restart.
"If it wasn't for that caution flag, he would have won the race," Wallace said. "There's no question about that."
But Wallace's win didn't come easily. He had to pit twice under green because of vibrations caused by loose lug nuts, and somehow was able to remain on the lead lap.
"We finally figured out it was a malfunction of the air gun and not the tires," Wallace said. "We kept going back out with loose lug nuts because the gun would only tighten the nuts about half of what they were supposed to be."
Kulwicki had his share of problems as well, spinning out after blowing a tire near the midway point, then being assessed with a pair of pit-road penalties for missing the stop sign at the end of pit road. Still, victory was within his grasp until Dick Trickle blew an engine late in the going.
"You're in a situation where you know your tires are better after they wear in a little, but you can't afford not to change them when you have the chance," Kulwicki said. ''It looked like we had the race won and then all those cautions came out. I used to be happy with second, but we had this race won. This time, to finish second is a little frustrating for us."
Is The Spoiler a Poison Pill for Jimmie Johnson?
By Reid Spencer Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
First, the facts.
Jimmie Johnson finished ninth Monday at Martinsville Speedway in a pedestrian run for the No. 48 team.
In eight previous races at the .526-mile short track, Johnson had led at least 42 laps in each race and a total of 1,380 laps. He won five of those eight races.
How many laps did Johnson lead in the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 in Monday's rain-delayed race? Zero. Yes, he posted his 16th straight top-10 finish at Martinsville, but it was a day-long struggle.
What was the single most obvious variable that separated Monday's race from the previous eight? NASCAR's switch from a rear wing to a blade spoiler on the Sprint Cup car, of course. The change became permanent at Martinsville.
Now, the disclaimers.
It was the first race with the spoiler, on a track where aerodynamics play only a minor role. Johnson said after the race that his lack of speed resulted from experimental changes to his car, as crew chief Chad Knaus tried—as he invariably does—to stay ahead of the performance curve.
With three victories in the first five races of the 2010 season, Johnson and Knaus felt they could afford to deviate from setups that had produced dominating efforts in the past.
"We were trying some stuff through the company, especially on the 48 car today," Johnson explained after the race. "We thought we would get it sorted out in practice and just came up a little short—didn't get enough time with our new ideas.
"(We got) good race experience with it (Monday), and we know what we were trying here will help us at other tracks down the road. In some respects, you wish you could just come back with the same stuff all the time and have it work, but this garage area doesn't sit still.
"With the fast start we've had, we wanted to be smart and try some things out. Ninth today was about it for us."
The bottom line is that the spoiler might have had nothing at all to do with the very ordinary performance of the No. 48 team.
On the other hand, Martin Truex Jr. said before the race that his car felt comfortable with the spoiler during recent testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Truex finished fifth Monday, his best effort of the season so far.
Is it possible that the switch to the spoiler could be a game-changer for the Cup series? Is it possible that NASCAR's changeup could be a curveball for the No. 48 team?
Knaus, for one, doesn't think so.
"It's a big, big change to the racecar," Knaus said March 21, after Johnson won the last race of the wing era, at Bristol. "(But) with the strength we have at Hendrick Motorsports, with the people we've got, we typically adapt quicker than most people, so I'm looking forward to it."
Then came Martinsville, which suggested, albeit tenuously, that the spoiler might be Kryptonite to Johnson and Knaus—if not deadly green Kryptonite, then the red Kryptonite that could have wacky, unpredictable results for the driver known as Superman.
Phoenix, on April 10, will tell us more, but the real test of the spoiler will come eight days later at Texas, where the Cup cars will race en masse for the first time on a downforce track.
In the meantime, Cup drivers who haven't won four straight championships can savor a small kernel of hope.
They can dream, can't they?
Top Ten…
Jeff Meyer · Fronstretch.com
Rehabilitation Orders Doctors Gave Denny Hamlin After Knee Surgery
10. Post-It notes reminding him that he is a race car driver and not some minority college kid in the Final Four.
9. Daily "healing hypnosis" sessions induced by staring at the swinging pendulums of three Grandfather Clocks.
8. A shot of Crown Royal, once a day, in honor of Matt Kenseth.
7. OK, two shots of Crown when he really gets to thinking of how Kenseth helped him out!
6. A daily whirlpool session that includes Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, and Joey Logano so they can all get together to reminisce about the closing laps — and Denny can brag they got beat by a one-legged Virginian.
5. Strict orders not to enter any butt kickin' contests.
4. Ordered not to win any races for at least six weeks as doing burnouts is hard on the affected ligaments.
3. A sturdy leg brace, because doctors foresee a massive swelling of his head once he starts believing he's the only challenger to Jimmie Johnson.
2. Deep knee bends while kissing Mike Ford's butt for making a gutsy call with less than 10 laps to go.
1. Practice kicking Mike Ford in the butt for making such a gutsy call, causing Denny to work so hard for a win!
Jeff Gordon, Kenseth reignite old rivalry
By Chris Symeon - The Sports Network
MARTINSVILLE, Va. - Move over, Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski (for the time being, anyway). After beating each other up in the closing laps of Monday's Sprint Cup race at Martinsville, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth are back in the spotlight of NASCAR's on-going rivalries.
The ending of the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville, delayed one day because of rain, turned out to be a wild one thanks in part to Gordon and Kenseth.
During a late-race caution for Jeff Burton's blown tire, leader Denny Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch surprisingly pitted, while everyone else remained on the track. Gordon then took over the top spot and led the way for the restart. He appeared to be on the way to his eighth victory at Martinsville, but just before the white flag was displayed, Busch got turned around and slammed into the wall. The last caution set up a green- white-checkered finish.
After the final restart, Kenseth moved up on Gordon's bumper and then dove underneath him in a attempt to take the lead as they exited the first turn.
"All I know is [Kenseth] was behind me," Gordon said. "I got hit and thrown up the racetrack. He was the first car to go by me. If that wasn't him that made contact with me, then I owe him an apology."
Kenseth made the pass on Gordon heading into turn three, but Gordon shoved Kenseth up the track as he scraped the wall. While both drivers duked it out one-and-a-half laps from the finish, Hamlin slipped through to take the lead for good.
"We were gonna be side-by-side going into three and four, and the outside lane has actually been an advantage anyway, so it wasn't gonna be that big of a deal," Kenseth said. "Instead, he decided to run me down as low as he could, because he knew I'd wreck when I got to the corner. That's the way it turned out. It was a dumb move on my part.
"I should have just finished third and collected some points and got one of our best finishes at Martinsville, but I figured I'd go for the win, which, I guess in hindsight, was probably a mistake."
Hamlin was scheduled to have surgery on his torn ACL in his left knee on Monday. Instead, he capped off his day with a celebration in victory lane -- his third at NASCAR's oldest and shortest track.
Gordon held on for a third-place finish, while Kenseth wound up 18th.
"If somebody hits me, I'm going to hit them," Gordon said. "If he hit me, I'm glad I did what I did on the back straightaway. If a guy gives you a cheap shot like that, he doesn't deserve to win the race in my opinion."
Obviously, there was friction between Gordon and Kenseth at Martinsville, but not enough to spark any post-race fireworks on pit road, as was the case in their first altercation in March 2006 at Bristol. The two drivers ended up in a shoving match in the pits shortly after Kenseth wrecked Gordon on the last lap.
NASCAR slapped Gordon with a $10,000 fine and a five-month probation for his altercation with Kenseth at Bristol. It was Gordon's first penalty for a non- technical violation.
Later in the '06 season, both drivers clashed again at Chicagoland. Kenseth held the lead with seven laps remaining, but Gordon tapped Kenseth from behind and spun him around. Gordon went on to win at Chicagoland for the first time.
Gordon and Kenseth each admitted their issues from four years ago did not play a factor in their Martinsville tussle.
That may be true.
But when it comes to two former Cup champions who haven't won in a while, don't be surprised if another altercation between the two happens again, especially if they're in a battle for the win in the closing laps.
Junior Johnson's son cutting own path into racing
By Tommy Bowman - Winston-Salem Journal
Junior Johnson, the Last American Hero, isn't the last of his lineage in stock-car racing. A sequel, so to speak, is in the making.
Johnson's son, Robert Glen Johnson III, has emerged from a vastly different world than his father's moonshine-hauling days, but he's discovered the same interest and aptitude for speed and competition. The younger Johnson seems intent on establishing his own racing legacy, and in the process, he has his legendary father back and involved in the sport in a hands-on way.
Robert, as poised and polished as perhaps a 16-year-old can be, is a sophomore honors student at Forsyth Country Day School with a goal of attending Duke University and studying motivational psychology. He's also, however, set on a racing career, with plans to eventually become a Sprint Cup contender.
He said he wasn't always interested in following his father into racing. In fact, he wasn't at all enamored of the sport as a toddler, when he was lugged down pit road as Junior Johnson was ending a career as a car owner in the mid-1990s.
"I remember it was really loud," Robert Johnson said.
He's making noise of his own now.
Robert Johnson won the first race he entered, last May in a Sportsman division at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro. He went on to win four more races.
"It felt really natural to race," he said. "I think it's in the blood, but I don't race because of Dad's legacy. I race because I like it. I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't right for me."
That's fine by his father.
"He accepts the fact that he's going to be different from me and he's doing his own thing and not trying to impress people because he's my son," Junior Johnson said.
Still, Robert Johnson recognizes that being the son of a Hall-of-Fame driver is very much part of it all, and for a while at least, his father name will be a constant in conversations.
"It's great to be able to talk about Dad's legacy. He's a cool guy," he said. "I remember at Bristol about eight years ago I went over to get Jeff Gordon's autograph. I was a big Jeff Gordon fan. I was star struck to get to meet Jeff Gordon. And I think Jeff Gordon was star struck to see Dad. I remember it hitting me then what Dad means to the sport."
Robert Johnson has stepped up to Late Model competition this year and plans to run a full 16-race schedule in the touring UARA Series, as well as five races in the Whelen All-American Series.
He is driving car No. 11 for the revived Junior Johnson & Associates. The team is operating out of JKS Motorsports in Welcome. Ed Berrier, a veteran NASCAR driver, is the crew chief, and the team is getting some technical support from Richard Childress Racing just down the road.
Junior Johnson is enjoying it all.
"He's smiling like a possum," said Will Spencer, the owner of JKS. "He's very opinionated about what we need to do and how we need to do things. He's very observant how the car is acting on the race track and how Robert is driving the car. He has no problems telling us if we're doing something wrong. So, yes, he's involved.
"Robert having Junior as a father really adds to the way he delivers because he's got somebody that's been there, done it, lived it and stepped away from it and is now very recognized for what he contributed to the sport. And for Junior to step back in after a 15-year hiatus is great."
Robert Johnson had a solid start in the UARA Series earlier this month, finishing eighth at Hickory, where Junior Johnson registered his first victory in 1955.
"He picks up on things real quick," Junior Johnson said. "He drives with his intelligence, I drove like I was crazy. There's a lot of difference in our style. I went to the front until either the car tore up or I won the race. He takes care of his car and does what he needs to. He's been good to save his car, to use it when he needs to and not tear it up."
Robert Johnson, meanwhile, said that he's been "compared more to David Pearson than Dad, just because my style seems to be more endurance, where I seem to come in late in races when everybody else has sort of killed their cars. I try to take it easy at first and then get after it the second half."
But some of the Junior Johnson aggressiveness, and telling determination, comes through. Asked if there was anything he didn't like about racing, he said, "I don't like it when I'm slow."
Robert Johnson doesn't have time to go slow. He commutes to and from home in Hamptonville to Forsyth Country Day, and he has little free time between keeping up with class work and preparing for races.
"He's articulate, he's smart and he's handling it all well," Spencer said. "It's been a joint effort -- Lisa (Robert's mom), Junior and all of us -- trying to be respectful of his time and very aware of the importance of his education."
As for the racing, the goal is evident.
"The goal is to be racing in the Cup series in five or six years," Robert Johnson said.
Dale Earnhardt Sr.: NASCAR's Own Classic Version of "American Pie"
Sal Sigala Jr./bleacherreport.com
Written on March 27, 2010
On a cold winter's night back on Feb. 3, 1959, a small private plane took off from Clear Lake, Iowa, bound for Fargo, N.D. It never made its destination.
When that plane crashed, it claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson, and the pilot, Roger Peterson.
Three of rock and roll's most promising performers were gone. As Don McLean wrote in his classic music parable "American Pie," it was "the day the music died. "
Throughout the years, the world of sports and entertainment has seen its share of fallen heroes, those who in one way or another touched the lives of those around them.
Whether in person or watching on our television sets, these legends were the backbone of the culture in which we grew up.
Many times, we watched them while thinking what it would be like to walk in their shoes. At times, we tried to fulfill our own dreams by mimicking what it was that made them famous.
Life has always been about the journey. From time to time, each of one us have experienced life's many crises from the different changing events and transitions, all unpredictable moments arriving and intruding into our "well groomed" lives.
We didn't ask for this interference, and sometimes we find ourselves wondering why it has arrived, bringing with it havoc and confusion.
Along with the havoc and confusion, there is one hell of an adventure that is waiting to explode right before our very eyes.
The journey that Earnhardt embarked on is one that, even today, is still one the most talked about subjects whenever the word NASCAR is mentioned.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. was born April 29, 1951. A NASCAR legend to some, but yet to his family, he was a son, father, brother, and also a husband.
Earnhardt was as wholesome as American pie. Whether you loved him or hated him, the legacy that he left behind was…A long, long time ago...I can still remember how that No. 3 used to make me smile .
With a twinkle in his eye, and a devilish grin on his face, Dale Earnhardt Sr. pushed and shoved his way into NASCAR superstardom.
Call it what you want—passion, infatuation, enthusiasm, or just a plain and simple love for the sport.
Our modern dictionary is full of words that can be used to describe the enormous impact—good or bad—that this one driver alone has had in the NASCAR series.
Excellence and dedication on and off the track were two of his biggest strengths, along with the zeal to be the best driver.
He was tenacious when it came to accomplishing the goals that he set before himself. Very seldom did he ever fall short of achieving what most other drivers could only dream of.
NASCAR to him was a way of life, as well as a world that he would dominate in his own special way.
Never has a driver come from such a simple lifestyle to steal hearts—as well as crush a few—on his way to becoming one the sport's most recognizable figures.
His popularity wasn't constrained to just motorsports alone. His reputation took him beyond the NASCAR walls and into the limelight of everyday sports.
Dale Earnhardt Sr. was born a legend. Throughout his storybook career, he took every advantage, as well as the gifts that were given to him, in order to give back to the sport and the fans who gave him so much.
Earnhardt's love for the sport catapulted him to places that very few drivers have ever reached. At the same time, it allowed him to become one of NASCAR's most popular ambassadors.
Earnhardt not only believed in himself, but he also believed in his own abilities. He took many chances other drivers would frown upon.
Earnhardt's greatness was portrayed in those who chose him as their own hero. There were still those fans who couldn't find it in their hearts to overlook his aggressive driving style.
Either way, "The Intimidator" continued to take NASCAR by storm. At the same time, he catapulted the sport into the homes of motorsports fanatics around the country, because of his uncompromising driving abilities, which were admired by those who witnessed them.
The word "quit" was never found in his vocabulary, nor could anyone quench the fire that burned deep within his heart to always be the best.
Many drivers who come through the series leave some sort of footprint for the next generation driver to follow. This special set of prints have yet to be followed though because of the legacy hidden deep within the soles.
Earnhardt's accomplishments made him one of NASCAR's most decorated drivers. All you had to do is put an ear to them, and almost magically you could listen to history being spoken in a small, still voice.
Death is eminent in any sport, especially when you take into consideration how dangerous NASCAR racing is, because of the high speeds these 3,500-pound cars travel.
When the Grim Reaper comes knocking at your door, there is no escaping his deadly grip, since he has no respect for who is next on the list.
On a warm, sunlit day back on Feb. 18, 2001, Dale Earnhardt Sr. would buckle himself into his famous black, grey, and red No. 3 Goodwrench-sponsored Chevrolet, just as he had done many times during his 22-year legendary career.
Earnhardt never reached his final destination. There would be no last-lap heroics, but instead these few words from "American Pie" about the day that NASCAR died.
But February made me shiver with every paper I'd deliver. Bad news on the doorstep; I couldn't take one more step.
I can't remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride. But something touched me deep inside the day the No. 3 died.
Bye-bye Miss American pie. Drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry. And them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing this'll be the day that I die.
Did You Notice?
Thomas Bowles · Frontstretch.com
Martinsville's Second Swan Song?, Silly NASCAR Warnings, And Roush On QVC?
Did You Notice? … Martinsville's finish was one of the best we've had in the past several years, causing longtime fans to breathe a little easier about its future?
I wish I could say I'm with you on that one.
Certainly, if these decisions were based on racing alone Martinsville would be assured a second date forever. But as we all know, businesses don't survive without making money, and with profit margins down at ISC that's going to become more of a focus than ever before. This much we know for 2011:
- Kansas Speedway is on its way to building a casino that would make ISC plenty of money (opening by 2012). – With the casino nearing completion, that cold, hard cash is enough to give them an automatic second date – no matter how good or bad the racing is at the speedway. – The current Cup schedule won't expand beyond its current slate of 36 races.
With those thoughts in mind, it's clear someone's going to lose a race when the schedule is set for 2011. And with NASCAR's shaky truce with SMI's Bruton Smith, you can be sure adding an ISC date won't come at the expense of any of his tracks. Don't expect independents like Dover, Pocono, or Indy to lose a date either.
So who's at risk from the pile of ISC tracks? It's a "race" (and not the good kind) between Phoenix, Michigan, Fontana, and Martinsville. You would think, considering Fontana's usual snoozers versus the type of competition we saw on Monday, Martinsville would have knocked itself down to the bottom of the list.
Instead, it worked its way back towards the top. Attendance for Sunday (hard to compare rainout numbers) was listed at 58,000, roughly 7,000-9,000 short of capacity. That's the smallest crowd for the half-mile oval since ISC took it over in 2004. And if you want to look at the ugly rain-delay numbers … they're even worse. Officially, the count was posted at 40,000 but reports from the track claim that number seems slightly inflated, with 30-35,000 a more realistic total.
Those numbers pale in comparison to the "72,000" that Fontana was able to attract this Spring (a number also in quotes, as many claimed it was drastically overinflated). So on pure numbers alone, even though Martinsville sold out a higher percentage of its seats (roughly 85 to 90 percent) Fontana has a much greater ceiling in terms of overall capacity. Add in the fact it's close to a major market, and you can make the argument that when the economy recovers, the track's got greater potential to make more money. (Remember, these folks in business suits ignore things like "side-by-side racing" and "tradition." After all, those ugly Lexuses they're driving don't get paid with 'historic significance.')
"No way!" you say. "More fans watch Martinsville compared to Fontana on TV. It's simply not possible for NASCAR to make such a ridiculous move." Ah, but here's another dirty secret: Fontana's TV ratings are actually higher. Check it out:
Spring Fontana Race Ratings:
2007 – 6.7
2008 – 6.2
2009 – 6.0
2010 – 5.0
Spring Martinsville Race Ratings:
2007 – 5.3
2008 – 5.3
2009 – 4.6
2010 – ???
Shocking, but true: from 2007 through 2009, Martinsville ratings were 22 percent less than Fontana's, the second race of the season. For the hardcore fan, this freak of nature has a simple explanation: Fontana always carries with it the momentum generated by the season's highest-rated race, the Daytona 500. But again, these men in suits don't have time for explanations. Their flight to Jamaica is running late, and they need to make the Tiki Bar by 7:00.
"But you don't understand!" you're saying, now slightly deflated. "The ending of that race was enough to make them reconsider!" Hmm… have any of you forgotten how the last Rockingham race unfolded? Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne came to the line side-by-side, producing a finish that was almost too close to call (Kenseth won by a nose). In fact, two of the last three races at the Rock were instant classics like that – but in the business world, that didn't matter. Those races are gone.
Remember the final Southern 500 in 2003? Terry Labonte pulled off the last win of his career, fighting through a race that featured 24 lead changes (the most there since 1996). The fall race the following year, moved to November, set another standard with 27 lead changes, won by Jimmie Johnson after a thrilling late-race battle with Jamie McMurray.
The next year, that fall date bit the dust.
So I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but in a business sense Martinsville hurt its chances to keep both its Sprint Cup dates in 2011. But before you go scream/cry/throw obscenities at me, take a deep breath … there's hope. Both Michigan and Phoenix (along with Fontana) are undergoing economic evaluations by the ISC, and both have been hit hard by the current economy. Pulling a date from Phoenix would make the most sense tradition-wise (they've only had a second date since 2005) and their seating capacity of 77,000 doesn't give them much upward potential. As for Michigan … well, they could be the true wild card. Attendance badly slumped last year, as has the quality of racing, not exactly an easy sell for fan disinterest combined with an unemployment rate approaching 25 percent. So by no means is a Martinsville date loss set in stone … it's just not completely out of the question. And that's a shame.
I'll close in saying losing a date at Martinsville would crack my heart in two, as it would with many fans on the circuit. I don't (and won't) have the luxury of walking away if that happens, but I can certainly understand how for many that follow this sport that's the final straw. Which is why I leave NASCAR with this quote from Michael Phillips:
"Money will come to you when you are doing the right thing."
The right thing is to keep two dates in rural Virginia.
Did You Notice? … Jeff Gordon trying to snooker the field on restarts? The way he was choosing to step on the gas was the opposite of smooth, equivalent to a little brake check road rage in front of you on the highway. In my opinion, his struggle to get up to speed at the right time during the green-white-checkered finish opened the door for Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, and Denny Hamlin to take their shots in a race that should ultimately have been Gordon's to win.
But what really bothered me is an incident early in the race where Gordon jumped the start. Following a caution on lap 70, the No. 24 got so far in front of the field with his acceleration pattern he was already five car lengths ahead by lap 71. NASCAR's response was to "warn" Gordon about how he conducts himself in such restarts in the future, a move which might have played into the funky way he did them the rest of the day.
Some will say that message had the desired effect, ensuring Gordon didn't snooker the field and break the rules when it counted the most. But did teammate Mark Martin get a "warning" when an air hose violation was discovered in the pits? Did Dale Earnhardt, Jr. get a "warning" for speeding on pit road last week? It's not like Gordon's a rookie here … he knows how to handle himself on restarts. So in my opinion, anything less than an outright penalty on the track for that type of stuff is unacceptable.
NASCAR wonders why it's accused of playing favorites. Well, the second they say the word 'warning,' they leave themselves at risk for that very criticism.
Did You Notice? … Attitude can be everything inside the race car? Mark Martin and Kurt Busch both suffered through two major problems Monday. For Busch, his team chose to keep him out on old tires under an early caution flag, leaving him a sitting duck for the pack behind him on fresh rubber. In Martin's case, it was that air hose penalty which left him 22nd with just 125 laps to go.
Two drivers facing adversity … two different reactions. For Busch, the poor decision led to an angry tirade on the radio, throwing him off his rhythm and easily into the clutches of his competitors around him. Second on lap 175, he was ninth by lap 200 and never so much as sniffed the top 5 the rest of the day. Eventually, a loose wheel dropped him three laps off the pace, killing momentum from an average finish of 1.5 these last two weeks and causing Busch to wonder aloud, "Why do I even try at this track?"
In contrast, Martin's approach was to buckle down, take a deep breath and focus on fighting to the front. On lap 375, he was 22nd; 75 laps later, he was seventh and heading towards a certain top 5 finish until a bout with the outside wall ultimately sent him fading to 21st. During that time, the 51-year-old never complained, never screamed at his crew for causing him hardship … just chose to give nothing less than 110 percent.
People say sports is just as much mental as it is physical. Need any more proof?
Did You Notice? … A very unique way in which Roush Fenway's selling sponsorship? Found on allleftturns.com, you've got Sean Pragano, PR director for Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.'s No. 6 Ford, attempting to sell sponsorship through a television format similar to QVC. The video's well worth watching; it's certainly a hilarious, creative way for potential backers to take notice of the up-and-coming 23-year-old (although in my opinion, it does start to run a little long).
There's just one part where the sell gets a little tricky; when you get to the part where you give out Stenhouse's actual results (not mentioned in the QVC catalog). Because after all, aren't businesses interested in the bottom line? So far this season, the rookie has crashed in every one of his four races, posting a best finish of 25th, 33 laps off the pace. That puts him behind such household names as Josh Wise, Eric McClure, and Willie Allen (who has one less start this season). If there's any consolation for Stenhouse, teammate Colin Braun has also yet to score a top 15 finish so far this season, putting the duo in Jack Roush's doghouse before we're even close to the Dog Days of summer. And considering the amount Roush Fenway charges a potential sponsor, those are the type of finishes that could make sponsors go with one of those underdogs at a bargain price instead.
So Nashville now becomes a crucial race for both men, especially considering Roush is funding half their programs out of pocket. If another bad day forces both to qualify on speed going forward (they're right on the cusp of falling outside the top 30) you wonder how committed Roush will stay to funding both programs for the full schedule. Because when Mr. Roush doesn't call the QVC line back … then you know you've got a real problem.
NASCAR ON TV THIS WEEK
| NNS: Nashville 300 | Sat, Apr 03 | 04:00 pm | ESPN |
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!"
