Happy Thursday! March 11, 1995: Johnny Benson wins the Busch Light 300 at Atlanta for his first win of the season. Ken Schrader finishes second, .47 seconds back, and Jim Brown is third. Benson takes the lead in the standings and will go on to win the championship, his only in the Nationwide Series. Benson wins a Truck Series title in 2008. 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 Lou Hi Momma, Just a brief comment about the professional writers who write about NASCAR related happenings. It seems to me that many of them can't make up their mind about which side they're on. I have been reading stories lately about how NASCAR is not strict enough on their rules enforcement. These articles are written by the same people that said, just last year, that NASCAR was too strict. Maybe your readers have noticed this also and have an opinion about it.
The Old Man of NASCAR, Lou Elliott I have to agree here Lou, you either want more personality, or you don't. The only reporter I heard speak out in defense of Carl was Ed Hinton. And boy, my husband was hopping mad because he defended Carl…And I mean MAD. I couldn't get him to be quiet about it. Me, I think what Carl did was both wrong and right. Wrong because it was at Atlanta, and right because he and Brad have had problems. I like Brad. A lot. I don't like Carl. A lot. But it sure makes a person wonder what is going to happen next between the two once "probation" is over. From Chip Dear NASCAR Momma: Many if not most have held their tongue apparently because NASCAR has tried to let the drivers create the drama they think will bring more fans to the tracks. But here is my Monday morning crew chief view of the incident. Carl Edwards, more than anyone else, should know what happens to a car spun around at the speeds run at the bigger tracks. That being said I do not believe him when he says that was not his intent to send the #12 airborne. The video evidence was shown during the caution that clearly showed Edwards missing a prior attempt and I believe that is when NASCAR should have warned Edwards to stop. Accidental contact and incidental contact is one thing but deliberate attempts at those speeds is indeed unsafe, uncalled for and unwise. Will NASCAR wait until someone gets killed to set these guys down and tell them that even if fans like to watch bumper cars it should not be happening at tracks where the speeds are so high that the outcome could be so devastating. Maybe this is all a moot point as the wing disappears from the cars and we will not have to hold our breaths as drivers get spun around backwards with the wing defeating the purpose of roof flaps. Retaliation on short tracks puts more cars at risk of wrecking as they are so much closer together thus anyone getting even on them would incur the wrath of those other drivers and teams taken out because of another's vendetta but at least the cars do not end up airborne into the catch fences spreading debris into the crowd. B K could claim rookie ignorance but Edwards is no rookie. I think that a more severe penalty should be considered here as it appears the main reason that Edwards went back out on to the track was to settle the score. At the very least he should not be allowed any positions he gained after returning to the track. Someone has already said that Edwards should have learned to make his retaliation less obvious as the cameras showed his white gloves making the deliberate right turn into B K's rear. Next time wear darker gloves and don't make it look so obvious as it gives you no wiggle room when you get caught with your pants down. Chip Bits and Pieces Speedway Motorsports revenues down in 2009: Speedway Motorsports Inc.'s overall revenue declined by 9.9% in 2009, including a 13.3% drop in ticket revenue, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Speedway Motorsports Inc., finished 2009 with a balance sheet showing a $10.3 million loss, while its income from continuing operations was $74.9 million, down 28.2 percent from $104.3 million last year, according to the filing. Part of the difference comes from a $74.5 million devaluation of Motorsports Authentics, the struggling merchandise company that SMI co-owns with rival International Speedway Corp. Both companies now consider Motorsports Authentics to have no carrying value. For 2009, overall revenues dropped from $611 million to $550.5 million. Admissions revenue dropped from $188 million to $163.1 million. Event-related revenues (sponsorships, concessions, merchandise, etc.) dropped 15.5%, from $211.6 million to $178.8 million, and broadcast revenue increased 3.3 percent, from $168.2 million to $173.8 million. SMI's 2010 forecast is for the economic struggles to continue as it projects overall revenues to drop to $500-$533 million and for its diluted earnings per share from continuing operations to be $1.00-$1.40 after it was $1.66 in 2009 and $2.40 in 2010.(Scene Daily) Sprint Pit Crew Challenge tickets on sale March 13: Tickets for the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge presented by Craftsman, featuring a fan-friendly, pit-crew competition between the top-24 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pit crews, are on sale March 13. Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased online at www.pitcrewchalleng Tire testing at Darlington with spoiler: Darlington Raceway was the latest site for a Goodyear tire test on Tuesday [March 9th]. A total of five teams were on-hand to test tires at the legendary South Carolina track. #33-Clint Bowyer (Chevy), #47-Marcos Ambrose (Toyota) and #19-Elliott Sadler (Ford0 all tested their respective Sprint Cup Series rides while Aric Almirola and Timothy Peters tested their Camping World Truck Series vehicles in preparation for the series' return to Darlington on August 14, 2010. No speeds or incidents were reported. Tickets are on-sale now. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Darlington Raceway ticket office at 866-459-RACE or online at darlingtonraceway. Waltrip to drive #55 at Talladega: In celebration of its 55th year, Aaron's, Inc. will sponsor PRISM Motorsports' #55 with driver Michael Waltrip in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway April 25. Waltrip, a two-time Daytona 500 champion and former winner at Talladega, will return to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing with a long-time sponsor in Aaron's and a long-time friend in PRISM co-owner Phil Parsons.(Aarons PR) NASCAR Off Week Notes: Earnhardt Jr. Goes Prime Time On Disney Channel; Roush Is Cool With It By Greg Engle CupScene.com Editor, NASCAR Examiner Roush Is Cool With It: Team owner Jack Roush issued a statement Wednesday concerning his driver Carl Edwards. Edwards was involved in an on-track altercation with driver Brad Keselowski last Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway during the Kobalt Tools 500 that ended with Keselowski's Dodge flipping into the fence. Tuesday NASCAR put Edwards on a three race probation. The statement read: "We are satisfied that NASCAR fairly considered all the circumstances in its decision to discipline Carl (Edwards). We look forward to meeting with NASCAR, Roger (Penske) and Brad (Keselowski) in Bristol next weekend and it is our hope to put this behind us at that time. Missed in all of this was a really strong performance by Roush Fenway - and the Ford teams in general - at Atlanta last weekend and we are eager to continue to build on that moving forward." Furniture Row Racing Feeling Upbeat About RCR Alliance, Early Results: Joe Garone, general manager of Furniture Row Racing, said the team's new technical and engineering alliance with Richard Childress Racing (RCR) has already had a positive impact. "It's been approximately six weeks since we formed an alliance with RCR, and we can already feel a special synergy between the two organizations, New Licensing Agency Emerges for NASCAR By Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service The unnamed unit will operate as a one-stop shop for licensees, but a key difference from other previously established league-licensing divisions is that revenue will be distributed to the teams based on sales and not a revenue-share agreement. The licensing body is being called a trust because one body—NASCAR Properties—will hold the rights and grant licenses on behalf of the teams. Participation by the teams will be voluntary, but the top teams such as JR Motorsports, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Roush Fenway Racing are in, as are several others that own valuable rights, among them Dale Earnhardt Inc., which manages the late racing icon's legacy business. The teams have agreed to include only certain categories so far, like apparel. Which categories are in and which are out remains to be determined. "There are so many different organizations with so many different issues that it takes a long time and it's highly complex," said Jeff Steiner, general manager of DEI. "But the nature of discussions are positive, and it's moving forward with very good collaboration from the teams. "This is going to be a much healthier model for licensees and retailers." In the past, NASCAR teams managed their licensing rights in-house—each team operates as an independent contractor, separate from the sanctioning body. That model was considered cumbersome and confusing for licensees because they had to negotiate five different contracts to get the licensing rights to five different drivers. Rights to the NASCAR mark were a separate conversation as well. But in the new trust, those team, driver and NASCAR marks will be available under the umbrella of NASCAR Properties, or whatever the trust is eventually called, thus the one-stop shopping model. Team executives involved in the formation of the trust say it might take the rest of the spring to finalize the arrangement, but it's been called "imminent" by multiple sources. Talks began on Sept. 24 at NASCAR's offices in Charlotte and have continued with multiple meetings each month. All of the top teams have been represented, while Paul Brooks, NASCAR senior vice president, has mediated the negotiations. The trust will be run by a board of industry licensing executives, although it has not been determined how many will serve or how long the terms will be. The board will consist mostly of team executives, although officials from NASCAR also could be considered. Never before have NASCAR's teams and the sanctioning body combined their rights into one entity, making the formation of a NASCAR Properties a first for the sport. "It's long overdue," said Joe Mattes, the vice president of marketing and licensing at Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports. "Teams realize that we can't continue on as independent contractors, at least in licensing. There has to be a set of standards that we all work by." The negotiations to unify the licensing rights were prompted by the financial troubles of Motorsports Authentics, the dominant licensee in the industry. MA, which has been on the verge of bankruptcy for the past year, owes millions to several teams. As part of the arrangement to create NASCAR Properties, teams will forgive MA for most of its debt. Industry insiders say that even the most ardent opponents of MA have come to grips with losing that revenue. MA's contracts with Hendrick Motorsports and Roush Fenway Racing guaranteed as much as $3 million a year, but MA has been paying only a third to a half of the guarantee to the teams. MA's die-cast car business will be spun off into a separate entity and will be managed by a third party, industry sources said. Revenue from the die-cast business will be shared among the teams as a way to satisfy part of MA's debt. MA is expected to continue as a much leaner company that focuses strictly on trackside retail sales. Two years ago, MA took in more than $200 million in annual revenue, but that number was cut in half in 2009 as the recession took a bite out of sales and business plummeted. "Hopefully this licensing strategy works and this can become a testimonial for what can happen when teams pool their rights and work together," Mattes said. "Some teams are already doing that in other areas, like engines and other equipment, so at least conceptually it's a good thing." Michael Smith is a reporter with SportsBusiness Journal. NASCAR newsmaker: Steve Addington By Don Coble/augustachroni Steve Addington won more races than any other crew chief in the past two years, but that wasn't good enough for Kyle Busch. When Addington was fired last year with three races to go, older brother Kurt Busch was the first in line to offer him a job. The new combination of Addington and Kurt Busch won Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. At the same time, it gave Addington some satisfaction in knowing Kyle Busch hasn't won since he left Joe Gibbs Racing. Addington talked about working with a different Busch and his new job at Penske Racing after the race. Here are excerpts of that interview: Q: How does it feel to get your first victory with Kurt Busch and Penske Racing? A: It feels awesome to get that first win at Atlanta. This is the site of my first Cup win. To come back here and put this together, this was a team effort. It all started on Friday with the feedback from Kurt. You know, he told us, you know, we've got to work on this thing. If we're going to win, we got to work on this. We made a lot of adjustments. We hit on some stuff on Saturday. He was happy with it. We kind of messed around there. It was just like, hey, let's go back here, we're not that far off on the second run from Happy Hour. Let's adjust from there. That's what we did. And we felt confident going in. I slept good last night, you know. That was a different feeling than I've had in a long time, to be able to go in and rest because I felt confident that I had the feedback I needed to go out and win this race with Kurt Busch. Q: After the way things ended with Kyle, do you feel like your had some unfinished business there? Do you feel vindicated? A: I think if I denied that, I would be lying. You know, it feels good. It honestly feels good to be with this race team, with Kurt as the driver, and come back and win before the 18 car (Kyle) got a chance to win. That's a personal deal. There's nothing against that. I'm still great friends with Kyle and everything. But it's a good feeling. It's a relief in a certain way. It all comes back to the team. You know, I didn't win this race today. Kurt won this race with these guys on pit road, these guys that put this car together and worked on it through practice. This was a total team effort all weekend long. Q: Is there added satisfaction, especially since you helped Kyle's brother win a race? A: It's awesome. You know, and the thing that really I feel good about was when all that went down, I mean, I'm at a point, let's move on past that. But this guy right here, he's the first one that called, you know. So it's a good feeling to know that the driver wants you to come over here and go to work for him. That's the most satisfying thing, is to get him to Victory Lane. I hope we do it many more times together here this year. You know, I mean, I think that we can. He's been awesome to work with. Great feedback. The thing that I enjoy about it is, we can sit in that lounge three hours after practice, and he finally looked through all the stuff, go over with us, he'll go, 'All right, what do you want to do now?' It's like we talk about a lot of stuff. It's good to have somebody sitting in there. You know, we don't have to say a lot. We're all looking through the information together, looking at what we did, looking back at runs. It's very satisfying to be working with Kurt right now. I'm looking forward to it. I think that great things can happen with this race team. To answer your question, like I said earlier, to come back here, this is the place that I won my first race as a Cup crew chief, and it just happened to be his brother. That was very special. That was very big. But to be with a new organization, to have the relationship that I've already built in a short period of time with Kurt and this race team, this one's pretty damn special. To put it on a measuring stick, I can't, because I feel pretty darn good right now. Q: There were two green-white- A: I looked over at our race engineer Dave Winston and told him, 'I used to get so nervous that I'd want to puke in this situation.' I said, 'Now it's out of our hands.' There's nothing we can do. We can't control any of this stuff. So you just sit there, you take what it is. You got to have confidence in your driver that he'll get it done. I had confidence in the driver to get it done. Remarkable NASCAR Fans: Stories Carl Edwards and Other Drivers Should Read David Yeazell/bleacherrep In the aftermath of last week's horrific crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway there have been thousands of stories written about every angle, every driver involved, and now the penalties, or lack of. The most deafening comment we have heard from this situation came from Brad Keselowski: "Could have killed someone in the grandstands. Fans occupy the grandstands. I have taken thousands of pictures at NASCAR events. Each time I look through a set of pictures from a race, I always find one constant: the fans. I see them at every race and every event. I see them before the race and usually long after the last hauler has left. I hear them, I see them, I photograph them, but, I don't know them. Reading through Andrew Giangola's book, The Weekend Starts on Wednesday: True Stories of Remarkable NASCAR Fans, has given me an opportunity to know some special fans. The book starts with a foreword by Tony Stewart and finishes off with a very philosophical Kyle Busch. In between, readers are treated to a bountiful harvest of stories about NASCAR fans from all walks of life. Giangola introduces us to people like Jack Hedge, the 82-year-old man who's attended every Daytona 500, and Spencer Roy, a wheelchair-bound youth who watched Tony Stewart dance the jig in his motor home. Every week, thousands of fans file into the racing venues across the country. Each one with a story as diverse as the tracks they visit. While Giangola does a great job of interjecting bits of his own life and sprinkles in plenty of humor, the book is not devoid of heart-wrenching stories. Meet John Bookie, a larger than life Jeff Gordon fan, and his girlfriend Christine Kavka. This young couple met through their love of sports, especially NASCAR. When John passed away suddenly, Christine was left to carry out his final wish. Traveling along the path to his final resting place, Christine learned it doesn't matter what driver you root for, it matters that you're a fan, and fans always help other fans. NASCAR fans come from all walks of life and are not limited to John Q. Public. In the section titled Famous Faces, Giangola shares stories from some of the most recognizable faces away from the race track. Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner, and the beautiful Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton are among the many stars who love racing. "It's not for show," said Giangola. "Their motives are pure. They attend races not for a photo op but because they cherish the same things in NASCAR as everyday fans." This book is all about the life and stories of NASCAR fans. Andrew Giangola has taken those stories and brought them to life. Tom Higgins Scuffs The Thomas Clowns Affair The list of charges against a young NASCAR hopeful was a long one. Driving on a public street without headlights…Or taillights…Or a horn…Or an inspection sticker. He was issued a pocketful of tickets and summoned to court. This story is among an avalanche of auto racing anecdotes looming Sunday in Mooresville, N.C. The tall tales will be told by approximately three dozen NASCAR-associated old-timers who are scheduled to take part in an event at The Memory Lane Museum. The occasion is a tribute to Rex White, 1960 champion of the sanctioning body's major series, then known as the Grand National Division. Joining White to meet with fans from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. will be two other champions, Bobby Allison and Ned Jarrett. A passel of their peers are to be present as well, including Buddy Arrington, Richard Brickhouse, Neil Castles, Joe Frasson, Cecil Gordon, Jimmy Hensley, Little Bud Moore, Tom Pistone and Jim Vandiver. Also Jabe and Ronnie Thomas, an amusing, fun-loving father-son duo from Christiansburg, Va. During Jabe's driving career from 1965 through 1978 he was the leading clown in the garage area and on pit road. His favorite prank was to stick chicken bones in the pants pockets of unsuspecting rivals right before races were to start. Many a competitor suddenly experienced shap pain in the hip area once the action began as a broken wishbone had a similar effect to a porcupine quill. Trace this to the foul (fowl?) fingers of Jabe Thomas. "Jabe would distract us with some nonsensical statement," remembers Buddy Baker. "And all the while he was sneaking chicken bones from lunch into our pockets. "Jabe could have made a living as a pick-pocket." Driving cars he maintained himself, the elder Thomas did fairly well on the track. Jabe, who will be 80 in May, started 362 races, posting three top-five finishes and 74 more in the top 10. He had a best finish of sixth in the point standings in 1971. Ronnie, who turned 55 on Monday, wasn't as nimble with chicken bones as his dad. However, he possessed the same down-home wit and sometimes the same sense of outrageousness. Ronnie was the relative NASCAR newcomer who found himself in a load of legal trouble with traffic tickets in the late 1970s. He and friends who helped prepare his car at the family shop in Christiansburg had worked far into the night getting the machine ready to go to a race track within a few hours. Ronnie decided he needed to give the car a shakedown run. He cranked up and pulled out. Onto a city street in Christiansburg. He hadn't gone far before a siren wailed and a blue light blinked. Ronnie blurted something like, "I know this is a race car, sir, but I swear I wasn't speeding!" Unamused, the cop started writing. He wrote, and wrote and wrote, much to the chagrin of the younger Thomas, who raced from 1977-89, winding up with 197 starts, nine finishes from sixth through 10th and a best point standings showing of 14th in 1980. "The policeman and judge were maddest about the 'no muffler' ticket," Ronnie recalled later. "Woke up the neighbors, you know." Kobalt Tools 500: Great stories marred by controversy Jay Dee/bleacherreport. Contrary to the buzz, there were 43 drivers racing on Sunday, not just two. As pointed out by my good friend Kelly Crandall in her article, "Carl Edwards may have escaped NASCAR's court, but the real jury still awaits", there has been a lot of talk about what happened on lap 323 of the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski. What is getting lost is the fact that there was an actual race that took place that day as well. And a pretty darn good race at that! Guys that no one expected to do well, did. Guys that were expected to excel, didn't. Teams that are fixtures in the top 10 were nowhere to be found. I will not be talking about "the incident" any further. Let's first look at the performance of some of the drivers that are not known to run up front that had break out days. Guys like Paul Menard and Scott Speed. These are guys that had great days well above the expectations of fans and "experts." Paul Menard is known as a perennial back marker that usually finishes out of the top 15. His career average finish coming into this season is 25th. Last Sunday, however, he came from the 23rd starting position to get his second career top five. He bounded up eight spots in the points. Why aren't we talking about this? Scott Speed has had only one top five and two top 10s in his career. His career average finish is 27th. On Sunday, he made up 22 places coming from 32nd starting spot to finish with his second career top 10. He made up four places in the points. Why isn't this being talked about? Now on to the teams and drivers that were expected to compete for the win, but failed to do so. Hendrick Motorsports is obviously the strongest team in NASCAR over the last several years. They employ two four-time champions, a legacy driver, and a guy that all NASCAR fans love. Unfortunately, none of these drivers cracked the top 10. Plagued by tire issues all day, the Hendricks crew suffered their worst average outing of the season as a group. Why is no one commenting on that? How about the teams that overcame adversity to have strong finishes? Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, and Ryan Newman were all forced to the back of the pack. Biffle had to go to a back-up car after a crash in practice and the Stewart-Haas drivers had to change engines. Stewart started 42nd and finished 13th. Newman started dead last and finished 17th. Biffle had the best day of any of these drivers. He was relegated to the 41st starting spot, avoided wrecks, had great pit stops and made up 33 places to finish in the top 10...again. He jumped three places in the points and now sits in third. Why aren't any of these the top story of the week? This is NASCAR "racing" isn't it? Or did we somehow go from "racing" to "demolition derby?" Let's make a pact to talk about the good stuff for a change, rather than focusing only on the grudges, stupidity, and politics of the sport. While NASCAR sorts things out and hands out punishments, whether I agree with them or not, I'll be looking at the RACING that takes place. MPM2NITE Matt McLaughlin · Frontstretch. The Season So Far Four races deep into a 36-race season may be a bit premature to start drawing too many conclusions. Things could radically reverse themselves in the next four races. But already some trends are emerging this season and we've got some stuff to talk about here beside the rising tide. This column is also based on one irrefutable truth: It's tough come up with anything to write about the sport going into an off-weekend, especially with my fellow Frontstretch writers having already grabbed up all the slam dunk Carl Edwards Vigilante Justice or Villain slots while I still dutifully was banging out my Sunday column. Oh, and the sooner I get done this column the quicker I can return to the garage and continue getting the toys ready for springtime after the Winter From Hell here in Philly with a week off dead ahead. The first four races of the season have offered a variety of tracks. Naturally there was the Daytona 500, one of four plate tracks on the schedule and an animal all to itself. Even absent the ever present hype leading up to the 500 Florida weather means this track is uniquely different in July to the point it might as well lay in a different latitude. This year's 500 was a bit frigid, but by July, Florida will be tropical again. Then we had races at California, a low banked medium size speedway, Las Vegas, a moderately banked medium size speedway, and Atlanta, a high banked medium size speedway. The first short track race — once the staple of the sport — isn't until a week from Sunday. Nowadays the mid-size speedways make up a majority of the schedule so we are getting a good glimpse of who has what. Let's start with the 800-pound gorilla in the room — one James Johnson, reigning Cup champion — who is showing every sign that he's ready to pick up where he left off last year…and for the last four years now. Johnson has won two of this year's four points races, in dominating fashion at California and slipping by teammate Jeff Gordon late at Las Vegas on four fresh tires. Only his 35th place finish at Daytona has Johnson out of the points lead. I'm sensing a growing number of fans who bear no personal animosity towards Johnson the way they once loathed Jeff Gordon (after all Johnson never routinely beat Earnhardt Sr.) but they're feeling like "Enough is enough." I'm not sure what Johnson and the No. 48 bunch are supposed to do about that sentiment. It's not like they're going to stop winning races or titles for the future good of the sport, and in fact in a year when NASCAR seems to want to promote rivalries maybe this is good for the sport. Earnhardt himself and Jeff Gordon weren't very popular in some quarters either, and some fans would tune in just hoping to see them fall on their faces. The more they won the more their detractors tuned in to watch them fall. As Earnhardt himself once famously said of the fans, "If they ain't cheering, they better be booing." There's nothing worse than watching a bunch of dispirited fans leaving the race track halfway through an event because they're bored. You just know they ain't coming back. Johnson is so damn vanilla that he hasn't incited the ABJ (Anybody But Johnson) brigade yet, but it may be coming. Meanwhile I truly feel that the only thing that can derail the No. 48 team is Chad Knaus leaving Hendrick for greener pastures the way Ray Evernham once did. Rick Hendrick recently joked that he'd love to sign Knaus to a lifetime contract but he can't afford it. From where I sit I don't see how he can afford not to. That leaves Johnson's three teammates from the dominant organization in the sport. Jeff Gordon is off to an unsteady start. He dominated at Las Vegas only to lose due to questionable pit strategy on the final stop. Other than that he's led just 13 laps and he's averaged a 21st place finish in those other three races. Sunday at Atlanta, Gordon looked particularly hapless, perhaps because the tires Goodyear brought didn't agree with him. The ageless one, Mark Martin — racing's equivalent to rock's Bruce Springsteen — is off to a better start. He finished 12th at Daytona and fourth the next two weeks. A wreck not of his own making dropped Martin to seventh in the standings, but he's still got the scent of the leaders. How many more years can he keep competing? Until he's damn well ready to stop. This cat is just born to run. That leaves Hendrick's problem children, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88. To avoid sacks of hate mail I've learned it's important to say positive things about Junior. He certainly does seem to be qualifying better this year. A second place finish at Daytona wasn't too bad. But since then it's been back to the doldrums. For whatever reason the No. 88 team just doesn't have the knack to take a car that's bad at the start of a race and turn it competitive. They have shown an uncanny ability to take a car that's decent at the start of the race and turn it to junk. Somewhere in the course of the afternoon Junior tends to get angry and from then on he's just phoning it in. Has Amp ever considered a new product with Prozac in the mix? Certainly one of the bright spots of the season for those tired of watching HMS win has been the dramatic return of Richard Childress Racing after a frustrating 2009 campaign. Kevin Harvick currently leads the points and his two teammates, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer, are also in the top six in points. This trio has finished 11th or better ten of a possible twelve times. Why the dramatic turnaround? Damned if I know. Usually for every year a team takes digging itself into a hole it takes them three years to dig out. I will say Richard Childress has been doing this a long time and isn't shy about spending money. And he's got three good drivers in his stable. Jeff Burton is an elder statesman of the sport and a veteran campaigner. Kevin Harvick has been at this eight years now and is finally showing some maturity. Clint Bowyer is entering his fifth full season of Cup racing and is beginning to show some of the form that used to light up the crowds in his home state of Kansas. Whatever the reason it's nice to see some new faces running up front. What about the other super-team, Roush Racing? Well it's been a mixed bag so far. Matt Kenseth is second in the standings after four straight top 10 finishes. He's only led nine laps, but Kenseth has never been a flashy driver. He comes on at the end when they're ready to write the checks. It seemed odd that a driver off to a fine start would wind up with a new crew chief but it's hard to argue with a second place finish at Atlanta. Greg Biffle also has four straight top 10 finishes and in the earlier races this season he was carrying Roush's flag. Carl Edwards' season is off to a rockier start. He has just one top 10 finish and zero laps led. As a result of Sunday's retaliatory incident with Keselowski, Edwards is on probation for three races (I'm sure he's shivering in his snake skin booties) and he's already mired 20th in the standings. David Ragan has had his "UPS" and downs. With an average finishing position of 25th four races into the season, he's got a deep hole to dig out of. After watching Jamie McMurray — formerly of Roush, but released after 2009 — win the Daytona 500 one has to wonder if Roush released the right driver. For all the Roush team's past dominance head to head with Hendrick, it's hard to dismiss the fact that only McMurray has won a Cup race in a Roush entry in over a year. Yet Roush seems hesitant to use Ford's new FR9 engine. I dunno. If I'm getting my face rubbed in the mud every weekend I'm pulling everything I can out of my bag of tricks. If you're going down, go down swinging. McMurray's win at Daytona was one of the feel good stories of the year. A driver tossed to the scrap heap by his former team, competing for the burnt out wreckage of two once mighty teams wins the big prize. Chevy has been dominant this year winning the first three races and dominating the top 10. Dodge's Kurt Busch — driving for Roger Penske, who fields the only Dodges out there — finally broke the streak on Sunday at Atlanta. He is currently tenth in the standings. Kasey Kahne got off to a fast start with a surprise win in his 150-mile Daytona 500 qualifier and he could easily have won at Atlanta as well if his pit crew hadn't let him down stop after stop. He's been running far better than his 17th place position in the standings. To date he's led 148 laps in his first four races in a Ford. Perhaps even more surprising is Kahne's RPM teammate Paul Menard who finds himself ninth in the standings ahead of such luminaries as Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch. Kyle Busch is off to a slow start with Joe Gibbs Racing. He has yet to finish better than 14th in a Cup event though he has won a Nationwide race. Perhaps owning his own teams in NASCAR's other two touring divisions is distracting Busch from his day job. Busch's teammate Denny Hamlin, who many felt was a good choice as a darkhorse contender for the Cup this year, is off to an even worse start with no finishes better than seventeenth and an average finish of 22nd. Toyota pilots are screaming that they're at a horsepower disadvantage right now. Maybe they need to install some of those sticking throttle pedals that turn mere Camry's into rockets? Teammates Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman seem mired in a sophomore slump their second season out. Between the two of them they have yet to post a single top 5 finish. Newman's season got off to a particularly difficult start with two straight DNFs that find him currently mired 29th in the standings. One of NASCAR's stated goals to improve the racing is 2010 was to "let boys be boys" and get back after it without fear of getting slapped on the wrist for playing a little rough. Well they've got some feuds going already. Juan Pablo Montoya is mad at Jamie McMurray and they're teammates. Kyle Busch isn't happy with Boris Said. (Then again, when is Kyle ever happy?) Tony Stewart's mad at Brad Keselowski. Denny Hamlin is mad at Brad Keselowski. Just about everyone is mad at Brad Keselowski but a few fans of his who post to internet message boards and tend to spell poorly. But Carl Edwards is madder at Bad Brad than anyone else. Edwards is now notorious for his actions at Atlanta, wrecking Keselowski while Edwards was more than 150 laps down after an earlier incident Sunday. Quite frankly I think it's time his fellow drivers learn Cause-a-Catastrophe some manners but looking at the mangled roll-cage in the driver's compartment of the 12 car after the flip was sobering. My take? Right move, wrong place. Speeds are too high at Atlanta for that sort of stuff. Martinsville is coming up soon. But in the first week NASCAR emerged from the Olympics shadows, Mr. Edwards surely has given us something to talk about, hasn't he? NASCAR's "The Gloves are Off" strategy is just part of their apparent effort to win back disenchanted fans who no longer attend or even watch races. The wings will be gone off the cars soon replaced with blade type spoilers the way God and Dale Earnhardt intended race cars to look. The earlier start times are welcome though with two west coast races and the rain delay at Daytona we haven't seen how those start times will truly affect ratings and attendance. Now it behooves NASCAR to do away with the two things that truly irritate long time race fans, the Car of Sorrow and the Chase. Until both are consigned to the Museum of Monumentally Bad Ideas beside New Coke and the Pontiac Aztek there's a lot of folks who ain't coming back. Four races into the season I've already decided I'm a dinosaur. I don't tweet, and I don't have a Facebook page. Hell, I don't have a cell phone. It seems that media members and drivers have decided to take it straight to the fans without such bothers as thinking and editing what they want to say or even writing in complete sentences. Carl Edwards is taking his case directly to the fans after Sunday's incident rather than through the media. That' s what we used to do but just as the Internet displaced so many print journalists, this twitting and About Face Booking seems to be the wave of the future. And it's not just young people who aren't old enough to know better. I'm told Darrell Waltrip, who is older than dirt, has become a Tweeter adherent. My guess is his 30 word electronic outbursts are easier to take than the constant cacophony of nonsensical verbiage and self-agrandization he spews on Sunday. You don't want to know what I'm doing every minute of every day. You don't need to know I've crawled out of the rack on Saturday morning at a decadent hour, I've pinched a loaf and having scrupulously scrubbed my hands clean I'm searching for my lost box of Captain Crunch for breakfast. That's how my brain functions weekend mornings until the nicotine starts firing off some neurons. Sorry, but I'm not a twit and I'm not going to tweet. If that means I'm out a job I'm down with that. There's lots more for me to do in the garage frankly. Know anyone who wants a righteous gold big block 72 Chevelle without a speck of rust on it? Tweet me. Oh, right….. Time to lay off the criticism and embrace Keselowski Stop hating and recognize the talent and drive in him By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM Why don't people get it? Brad Keselowski is just what the sport of NASCAR needs, and yet everyone -- from fans to competitors to the media -- question the kid, his style and his tactics. Even worse, the "H" word is used. Yeah, some "Hate" him. Get over it, gang. Unless someone or something kills him first, the kid's here to stay; he's here long-term and he's gonna contend. And all-in-all, that's a great thing for the sport, even if you could argue that Carl Edwards tried to do just that -- snuff his candle -- last Sunday at Atlanta, when Edwards purposefully wrecked Keselowski at 190-plus. But that topic's been beaten to death, so let's leave it alone. Supporting Keselowski, on the other hand, hasn't been dealt with. Obviously, a lot of people like Keselowski -- and I'm not just talking about his family who, as most of you should know, drain motor oil when they're cut. Count team owner Roger Penske in that number, because he hired the 26-year-old to drive his No. 12 Penske Racing Dodges in the Cup and the Nationwide series. Roger's no dope. He must've seen something positive, something he liked. Too bad the feeling's not widely contagious. A lot of people like Little K's fire, his sass, his confidence, his fortitude -- all attributes that are necessary in abundance to be a successful race car driver at the highest levels. A lot of competitors don't like him; and by inference a lot of fans don't either because guess what? By his nature and his ability, that means Keselowski's gonna wax their favorites. Who could possibly like that? And I get that. But God help you folks -- you've got to appreciate it. Just like with Jimmie Johnson, you've just got to tune in to see if "your guy" can be the one who's gonna be the one to win this weekend. A lot of cats in the garage despise Little K. You know why? Because they can't they can't take advantage of him -- he won't cut them a break. They don't like him because they have to work darn hard to beat him. He won't roll over. He won't turn the other cheek. They should be so lucky. They don't like him because they want pawns, they want patsies -- they want a boy they can use, abuse and discard. Keselowski is none of the above. He's gonna hold his ground. He's gonna fight for what he deserves -- and coming from nothing through a couple difficult years in the Nationwide Series to get to the point where he could prove his worthiness in JR Motorsports equipment -- he's earned it. So if that makes him an outcast, there are a lot of people in and around the NASCAR garage to feel sorry for right about now. Bear with me for a minute, because I don't want to strain my memory too hard. I like the kid. I like his style. I'm not gonna ask a million questions. And part of that comes from the fact that Keselowski's not much of a crybaby. He doesn't apologize for what he does, but he doesn't much whine when he gets it back. He says "wait 'til next time." And as a fan who craves a little drama with their racing, you've just gotta love that -- don't you? I am not and will not compare Little K to Dale Earnhardt on any level, at any time. But I'll never forget the day, in my opinion of course, Big E gave away the 1989 Winston Cup championship when he made an ill-advised blocking move on Ricky Rudd at North Wilkesboro. Rudd blew Earnhardt out of the way; unfortunately spun himself in the process and Geoff Bodine took advantage to win the race. I've cited this episode before but it remains one of the three best video clips in racing, ever, as Earnhardt wailed to a worldwide audience that NASCAR "ought to suspend the son of a bitch," meaning Rudd, of course. For what, for using a move Earnhardt had virtually patented? The point is, even the late, great Earnhardt himself was not immune to whining a bit. But neither he, nor Keselowski, was known for it like a few other top runners in the garage. Keselowski is the kind of character NASCAR needs, as long as he's strong enough to take what he dishes out when it comes back around. What Edwards delivered Sunday wasn't anything Keselowski has ever, in my memory, been responsible for. He's raced hard, and God bless him for that -- but he hasn't gone out of his way to purely dump anyone out of pure spite. Depending whom you choose to believe, Keselowski did nothing wrong on Lap 5 at Atlanta, when Edwards tried to occupy a space Keselowski was already in, and Keselowski tried to lift. But he wasn't bound to do that and certainly not more than that, like lifting AND braking in the midst of traffic. Keselowski didn't flinch then, he told the truth when he left AMS's care center and said the next move might result in injury or death and for that, don't hate the boy. We need to cherish his style, all the way around. The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. The REAL Story of Moonshine and NASCAR - Part III Daniel Pierce/Real NASCAR.com The Drivers – Post World War II While most of the star drivers on the fledgling Piedmont stock car racing scene before World War II were involved in the illegal liquor business, if anything their numbers and influence increased after the war. Indeed, if Bill France had a major advantage over rival promoters after the war, it was his ability to deliver those wild and crazy North Georgia liquor haulers—most banned by the City of Atlanta from Lakewood Speedway—to the growing number of tracks hosting stock car races in the Carolinas and Virginia. Soon after the war, Fonty and Bob Flock took over from Lloyd Seay (murdered by his cousin) and Roy Hall (in the Georgia State Penitentiary for armed robbery) as the top stars in the sport. Both Flocks gained their experience behind the wheel of a souped-up Ford hauling liquor for their uncle, Atlanta moonshine kingpin Peachtree Williams. Many observers consider Bob one of the greatest talents in stock car racing history, but injuries and a dour disposition that led to frequent fights on and off the track limited his success and influence. In one of the great stories of stock car racing's early history, Bob defied the bootlegger ban and tried to sneak into a race at Lakewood in the late 40s and ended up fleeing from the police who tried to apprehend him, crashed through the track fence, and led them on a wild chase through the streets of Atlanta evading capture (although he later turned himself in). While most observers credit war hero Red Byron as the biggest star in the early days of NASCAR and its predecessor series the National Championship Stock Car Circuit (NCSCC), Fonty Flock was the main draw. Together he and Bob were billed as the "Mad Flocks" and with the dapper, charismatic Fonty as the top name on most race advertisements brought the fans in by the thousands. Fonty remained the top draw in stock car racing into the early 1950s and is probably most remembered for winning the 1952 Southern 500 wearing Bermuda (or "Bamooda", as he pronounced it) shorts and argyle socks and parking his car in front the grandstands after his victory, standing on the hood of his car, and leading the crowd in singing "Dixie." Fonty is another one of those individuals who most NASCAR fans have never heard of who deserves early induction in the Hall of Fame. He was the mustachioed face of NASCAR in its earliest days. Other North Georgia trippers who starred in the late 40s and early 50's included Crash Waller, Billy Carden, Glenn "Legs" Law, and Jack Smith. Perhaps the biggest star—outside of the Flocks—was Ed Samples. You won't find much mention of Samples in the NASCAR record books, but he won the championship in Bill France's NCSCC in 1946, finished second to Fonty Flock in 1947, and won championships in the late 40s and early 50s in the National Stock Car Racing Association (NSCRA) and the South Carolina Racing Association (SCRA), top rivals to Bill France's NASCAR. While the North Georgian bootleggers were the force to be reckoned with in early Piedmont stock car racing, they were soon challenged by liquor haulers from the Carolinas and Virginia. North Carolinians Buddy Shuman, Glenn Dunnaway, and Jimmie Lewallen (subject of a new movie entitled "Red Dirt Rising"—see http://www.reddirtr The most notable addition to the stock car racing ranks in the period came when bootlegger Curtis Turner—the "Blond Blizzard" from Floyd, Virginia—burst on the scene in 1946. "Pops" (a nickname Turner received for his propensity for "popping" his competitors to get them out of his way) was as flamboyant and charismatic as Fonty Flock. There was never a dull moment with Turner on the track; he would either blow up, wreck, or win the race and then host the largest, loudest, and lewdest party anyone had ever seen afterwards. He soon became one of the sport's top draws and would remain so until the late 1960s. In 1968, he became the first stock car racer to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated with a feature article inside calling him the "Babe Ruth of Stock Car Racing." Turner is another who deserves early induction into the NASCAR HOF. By the early 1950s, other trippers moved into the top ranks of the sport. Joe Weatherly from Norfolk, Virginia soon became a top driver—he won two Grand National Championships in the early 60s--and Curtis Turner's partner in leading NASCAR in practical jokes and partying. South Carolina bootlegger, turned Charlotte bus driver, Buck Baker won the 1956 GN championship and Denton, North Carolina bootlegger Bob Welborn won the NASCAR Convertible Championships in 1956, 57, and 58. Danville, Virginia liquor hauler Wendell Scott also began to make a splash on the local short track scene in southern Virginia and would go on to a long NASCAR career and become the only African American (to date) to win a race in NASCAR's top division. There has been a lot of controversy over the years about another of NASCAR's top drivers and his relationship with moonshine; Lee Petty. Petty always denied his involvement with illegal liquor, but recently even the Petty family has admitted that he had at least limited involvement. When asked about Petty's connection to moonshining by reporter Ed Hinton, Bob Welborn responded, "All I know is I used to take 50 gallons a week over to his house. I don't know—maybe he drank it all himself." In relatively recent years—most notably since Lee's death—Richard Petty has admitted that his daddy probably had some minor involvement and grandson Kyle has provided some pretty strong evidence of Lee's connections to the business as he shared the fact that two of Lee's brothers were busted for counterfeiting sugar rationing stamps during World War II—a sure sign of illegal liquor involvement. By the time Junior Johnson arrived on the NASCAR scene at the Southern 500 in 1953, the era of the liquor hauling stock car racer was actually in decline. Indeed, increasingly the new breed of stars like Fireball Roberts, Paul Goldsmith, David Pearson, and Ned Jarrett had no direct involvement in hauling liquor. Tim Flock did ride along on lots of moonshine hauling trips with his brothers, but they kept him out of the business at their mother's request. Junior was a late-comer for a bootlegger in the sport, but would have a huge impact as a driver in the late 1950s and early 60s. His style was often reminiscent of Curtis Turner's and as reporter Dick Thompson put it, Johnson "looks like a wrestler and drives like a maniac." As most NASCAR fans know, Johnson did spend much of 1957 in the federal penitentiary at Chillocothe, Ohio, but most don't realize (unless you've read the Tom Higgins and Steve Waid classic biography Junior Johnson: Brave in Life) that Johnson narrowly missed another prison sentence when he was arrested—along with his two brothers and his mother—on another moonshining charge in 1959. By the 1960s the era of the moonshine tripper/stock car driver era was pretty much over as the moonshine business declined with the arrival of more factory jobs and improved rural employment opportunities with cattle and chicken raising . A few drivers had had some involvement, but most came out of more legal—if not just as rough—backgrounds. In the early 1970s when North Carolina passed a liquor-by-the- While the moonshine hauler/stock car racer era seems to be in the distant past, there are—fortunately, at least from the perspective of this historian--some vestiges of that bygone time left in the sport. Morgan Shepherd, whose father was a Catawba County bootlegger, hauled liquor in his early days and at age 68 is still trying to make a living in the Nationwide Series. The most notable presence in NASCAR with a bootlegging past is car owner Richard Childress. Childress hauled moonshine in his late teens in the Winston-Salem area and made good money at it. "I did it for a few years, and in 1962 or 1963, I bought a 1959 Chevy, and I can still hear people saying, 'How in the devil does a kid working at a service station do that?'" Ironically, Childress is now the owner not only of a top NASCAR Sprint Cup team, but the proud proprietor of Childress Vineyards, one of the largest wine operations in the Southeast. So let's have a toast—of whatever your favorite beverage may be (I'm personally a big Cheerwine fan)—to NASCAR's colorful bootlegging drivers who laid the foundation for a great sporting enterprise. May their spirit, love of fun, and ability to thrill a crowd live on.
Next week: Part IV – Bootlegging, Early Car Owners, and Mechanics
***Let me put a plug in for a great event coming up on March 14 when "Legends Helping Legends" will be holding its Fourth Annual fundraiser at the Memory Lane Museum in Mooresville, North Carolina. The event runs from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and will include autograph signings by such NASCAR greats as Rex White (this year's event is being held in his honor), Ned Jarrett, Bobby and Donnie Allison and many, many more. All proceeds go to Living Legends Medical Fund to benefit former NASCAR drivers and crew members in need. Allison vs. Petty among NASCAR precedents By Steve Waid - ThatsRacin.com Contributor When NASCAR said "Boys, have at it" and encouraged them to police themselves on the track it didn't necessarily want one competitor to punt another into the air at 195 mph. What it wants are things fans say it hasn't had for quite some time – intense, no-quarter racing and heated rivalries. What it wants is the kind of racing fans saw in 1972, when two top drivers rammed and slammed each other and established a heated feud. NASCAR didn't do a single thing to stop it – no suspensions, no fines and no probations. It let the drivers police themselves. And the fans loved it. No one called NASCAR boring. Fans eagerly and willingly showed up for races week after week just to see what would happen next. Of course, NASCAR wasn't on TV back then. But if it were rest assured there wouldn't be any concerns over dwindling ratings. In 1972, Bobby Allison hooked up with team owner Junior Johnson. Allison figured he had his best chance to win the first championship of his career. But Richard Petty, the 1971 champ, stood in the way. He had long since been the dominant driver in NASCAR. Allison and Petty had never been the best of friends. By autumn of 1972 they were the only drivers in contention for the championship. At Richmond in early September, Allison and Petty ran circles around the competition. But as they did so, they ran into each other – repeatedly. With 100 laps to go, Petty knocked Allison wide in the second turn. Allison rammed Petty's rear bumper in the third turn, knocking his Plymouth atop the guardrail. Amazingly, Petty slid back onto the track and held the lead. He went on to win the race. NASCAR saw it all and did nothing. The fans loved it. Two weeks later at Martinsville, the duel continued. Over the last 50 laps fans saw some of the most exciting competition of the season. Allison was the leader with Petty on his rear. Going to Allison's inside, Petty ran over the curb and slammed into the side of Allison's Chevrolet, knocking the gas cap loose. When it noticed the cap dangling by its chain NASCAR black-flagged Allison. He ignored it and the cap was replaced during a pit stop. Allison desperately tried to catch Petty and hit the cars of Ben Arnold and Ed Negre in the process. It was to no avail as Petty won again. After the race NASCAR fined Allison $500 for ignoring the black flag. It was the proverbial slap on the wrist. Allison stoked the fire. "The other guy wrecks me and knocks off my gas cap and yet I get fined for ignoring the black flag," he said. The feud, once denied by both Allison and Petty, was undisputedly real. And the fans loved it. It all came to a head just a week later at North Wilkesboro. Again, Allison and Petty dominated as they put the field four laps down. They raced nose-to-tail and swapped the lead an incredible 10 times over the final 39 laps. The fans loved it. Things got violent over the last three laps. Allison crowded into Petty in an effort to take the lead. Petty clipped the wall in the third turn. He came back and again he and Allison collided. This time Petty's car hit the guardrail. Petty was three car lengths behind Allison on the last lap. The right-side tires on Allison's Chevy were rubbing and the car was smoking heavily – so heavily that the driver's compartment filled with smoke. In the first turn, Allison swerved to miss parts of both the front and rear bumpers of Petty car, which were in the middle of the track. The maneuver allowed Petty to retake and hold the lead and the victory. NASCAR could have come down hard on either driver in any of the aforementioned races. It could have thrown cold water on the rivalry that had been established between two feuding drivers. But instead, other than a piddling fine, it did nothing. And the fans loved it. Over the years there have been similar episodes among drivers named Waltrip, Earnhardt, Wallace, Elliott, Bodine and more. However, a year ago, it's likely NASCAR would have never allowed them to occur – not to mention the mayhem created by Allison and Petty. Seems now it's more willing to let the drivers police themselves and if that means whacking each other on the track and speaking disparagingly afterward, so be it. Sure, lagging attendance and TV ratings are reasons for this. But there's another one, one that is far more important. The fans love it.
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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