Happy Monday... Countdown to Daytona 20 Bits and Pieces Denny Hamlin tears ACL: #11-Denny Hamlin, widely considered Jimmie Johnson's top threat in 2010, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee [clutch foot] Friday playing pickup basketball. Hamlin said he still expects to compete, but surgery isn't an option at this time since the Sprint Cup season begins in two weeks. He plans to have surgery to repair the knee after the 2010 season. A team spokesman said the injury should not affect Hamlin's ability to drive the car. "I planted my foot to make a move toward the basket, and my knee just shot directly out to the left," Hamlin said. On Dec. 16, Hamlin had surgery on his right knee to repair the meniscus [also from basketball].(ESPN) NASCAR looking for a Sprint Cup Series director UPDATE2 Carter a candidate: NASCAR is interviewing candidates for a new Sprint Cup Series director, and current garage boss John Darby will train his replacement before moving into a managerial role. Several people familiar with NASCAR's restructuring plan said that Darby will move into an oversight role at the research and development center. The people all spoke on condition of anonymity because NASCAR will not announce its planned changes for 2010 until Thursday. There is no timetable for hiring a new director of NASCAR's premiere series, and Darby will fill the role as long as it takes to hire and prepare a replacement. Then he will transition into a new position that oversees the officials in all three of NASCAR's national series, as well as focus on the technical aspects of the sport.(Associated Press) UPDATE: With Sprint Cup garage boss John Darby set to move up to a new administrative position sometime later this year, the speculation has begun about possible successors. One who appears to be an obvious candidate is Joe Balash, the director of the second-tier Nationwide Series. Asked about his intentions in that area on Wednesday, Balash did a nice job of side-stepping the question. "We've got a lot of things going on with the Nationwide Series right now and I've got a lot of work,'' he said. "The transition of John Darby from his current position to the new position is kind of a long-term thing and we'll just let things play out as they do.'' Asked if he has interviewed or will interview for the Cup job, Balance said, "There hasn't been a process that has started yet with anything like that.''(Racin' Today) AND: Team owner Jack Roush would like to see an insider take over the position. Roush admits the man who takes over for Darby had better be able to master multitasking. One name he mentioned was Billy Berkheimer, a Darby disciple and NASCAR's top template official. One owner who spoke under anonymity because he was uncertain of the reasons behind Darby's reassignment suggested Brett Bodine, NASCAR's director of cost research, as the new car czar. One candidate's name that was buzzing around the teams Tuesday night was Larry Carter, the former Roush/Yates crew chief that was dismissed at the end of the 2009 season following the merger with Richard Petty Motorsports.(Fox Sports) BUT: Sources continue to report NASCAR is considering someone from outside the stock car racing world as a candidate.(CBS Sports)
UPDATE 2 - Carter a candidate for Sprint Cup director: Former NASCAR crew chief Larry Carter has emerged as one of the top candidates for the position of Sprint Cup director, a spot left vacant by the recent promotion of John Darby. Darby, Sprint Cup director since 2002, is being elevated to a management position at NASCAR's Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C. Carter, 47, most recently served as crew chief for driver Paul Menard at Yates Racing. He was not retained when the team merged with Richard Petty Motorsports. NASCAR has not indicated when it expects to fill Darby's position, although having a new person in the position when SpeedWeeks opens in Daytona in two weeks would seem to be a goal.(SPEEDtv) Jimmie Johnson HBO show debut's Tuesday: HBO Sports' groundbreaking "24/7" reality franchise presents its first non-boxing series with the all-access show 24/7 Jimmie Johnson: Race to Daytona. Debuting Tuesday, January 26 (10:00-10:30pm/ et/pt), the four-week series spotlights one of racing's biggest stars, reigning four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, and gives viewers an inside look at the driver and his #48 Hendrick Motorsports team as they prepare for the Daytona 500, the Super Bowl of auto racing. Johnson (who was named 2009's Male Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press) and his accomplished NASCAR racing team begin preparations for the Super Bowl of auto racing: the 2010 Daytona 500, set for Feb. 14 in Daytona Beach. Other episodes of 24/7 Jimmie Johnson: Race to Daytona debut on subsequent Tuesdays Feb. 2, 9 and 16 in prime time at 10:00 pm (ET/PT). The Feb. 16 series finale debuts two days after the race, with cameras tracking all the drama and excitement surrounding Johnson and his team on race day. All four episodes will have multiple replay dates on HBO, and the series will also be available on HBO On Demand. The executive producers of 24/7 Jimmie Johnson: Race to Daytona are Ross Greenburg and Rick Bernstein; senior producer, Dave Harmon; coordinating producer, Scott Boggins; writer, Peter Nelson. Liev Schreiber narrates.
Episode #1 Debut: Tuesday, Jan. 26 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: Jan. 26 (2:15 a.m.), 27 (2:30 p.m., 11:00 p.m.), 29 (7:30 p.m., 11:45 p.m.), 30 (11:00 a.m., 8:30 p.m. PT only, 11:30 p.m. ET only) and 31 (9:00 a.m.), and Feb. 1 (8:00 p.m., 12:15 a.m.), 2 (11:30 a.m.), 13 (11:00 p.m.) and 14 (8:00 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Jan. 28 (9:45 p.m.) and 31 (5:45 p.m.), and Feb. 11 (12:25 a.m.)
HBO On Demand availability begins: Feb. 1. More info, schedules and previews at HBO.com. Dale Jr.'s nightclub expanding: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s wildly popular nightspot, Whisky River, is expanding beyond its North Carolina roots with a second location slated to open in Jacksonville, Fla., this spring. Now, Earnhardt Jr. and NASCAR fans throughout northeast Florida and its surrounding beaches have a place to experience the very best nightlight in the area at Whisky River a venue renowned for its electrifying blend of live music performances, celebrity guests and dynamic DJs spinning everything from rock to country and more. Info at www.WhiskyRiverJacksonville.com. SPEED named exclusive TV home of NASCAR HoF: SPEED and NASCAR have reached a multiyear agreement naming SPEED as the official television home of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. As part of the deal, SPEED will continue to offer live coverage of special events leading up to the annual induction ceremonies, including nomination and voting days for each Hall class. As part of the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame opening on May 11, which SPEED will televise live, the network also will offer a special "walking tour" broadcast from the striking new Charlotte, N.C., facility just before it opens to the public, as well as extensive pre-event programming. Beginning in April, SPEED also will produce and air one-hour documentaries on each incoming NASCAR Hall of Fame class member. For more information on NHOF events, please visit www.NASCARHall.com.(SPEED) Petty ride dates announced: Kyle Petty's 16th-annual Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America will begin in Indian Wells, Calif., on May 1 and end at the Victory Junction Gang Camp near Greensboro, N.C., on May 9. The route includes California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina.(Autoweek) No changes to the Chase: After tinkering with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase the first few years of its existence, NASCAR went a third consecutive year without changing it. "We had other things to look at,'' NASCAR CEO Brian France said, alluding to a push to make the racing on the track closer. "We still like to look at the Chase over the longest period that we can. We will make changes to the Chase. We already have. We went from 10 to 12 (teams in 2007). It's all inter-connected how the rules packages affect the racing, affects how close things can by. My sense is that we'll look over the offseason for 2011 and see how it plays out and look at the totality of all the other things that we have to consider before we change or adjust the Chase. We like, obviously, the format style. The question is can we make it a little bit better.''(Virginian Pilot) NASCAR shooting to implement fuel injection in 2011: By the time the 2011 racing season gets under way, the only place to find a carburetor in the Sprint Cup Series might be in NASCAR's Hall of Fame. Officials said today that they hope to replace carburetors with fuel injection, and have been testing potential systems with an eye toward making the change as soon as possible. "We are in the process of the development and the testing and have been for probably six or eight months," " said Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition for NASCAR. The easy part is to just build the fuel injection system. The thing that we need to put into play is how are we going to regulate it, and what's going to be fair for everybody?" NASCAR is one of the only racing organizations that continues to use carburetors in its series. Fuel injection is a more accurate, and efficient, way of delivering fuel into the engine. It has been around since the 1950s and has been in place on all passenger cars in the United States since the late 1980s. Pemberton said some Cup teams have already been developing and working with systems with the expectation that such a move would eventually be made. Some teams, Pemberton said, "do have track time & on their early production or early prototype fuel injection system. "So our goal is to shoot for 2011," he said. "I think that's pretty aggressive. "We are pushing hard."(SceneDaily) Wood Brothers hope to return to full-time in 2011: Wood Brothers Racing, a Ford nameplate for 60 years, will race part-time in Sprint Cup racing again in 2010 with an eye on returning to the full-time schedule soon, perhaps in 2011. Bill Elliott again will drive the Woods' familiar #21, one of the most famous numbers in motorsports, in the 13 races the team plans to enter this season. Team co-owner Eddie Wood said additional races possibly will be added to the schedule if sponsor funding can be found. Motorcraft, Ford's customer service division, again will sponsor the team. A new co-sponsor is Ford's Quick Lane Tire and Auto Centers. Announcements were made during a Tuesday stop of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Media Tour near Charlotte, N.C. Although Wood said he wants to return to full-schedule racing, he said his team picks up benefits from its abbreviated schedule. "You have more time," Wood said. "The group of people we have together is a very close-knit group. And it's small. And small is OK. It works for us. We have a lot of time to do things. If we want to do a test or have an idea, we have time to go do it. The bigger teams don't. "We do want to get back full-time, but we won't do it until we can do it correctly. You won't ever see us be a start-and-park car." Elliott has raced with the Woods since 2007.(Ford Racing) Dale Earnhardt Junior top NASCAR driver on SI Earnings list NASCAR Examiner/Greg Engle He may have had his struggles on the track, not winning a Sprint Cup Series race in 2009, but Dale Earnhardt Junior was still able to smile all the way to bank last year.
According to Sport's Illustrated Fortunate 50, a list of the 50 highest paid American sports stars, NASCAR's most popular driver banked $26,611,290 in 2009. That's $4,611,290 from salary and winnings and $22,000,000 from endorsements.
Those earnings were just below the NFL's Peyton Manning who was 10 with $27,000,000 and just above NBA player Dwayne Wade at $26,410,581.
Earnhardt Junior, who was voted the sport's most popular driver for the seventh straight year last year was 11th on the list in 2008.
The only other NASCAR driver to make the list was Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt's teammate at Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon fell from 14th in 2008 to 21st in 2009 with combined earnings of $20,944,140. NASCAR wants to curb criticism of the sport By Doug Demmons - The Birmingham News One of the themes of the just-ended NASCAR Media Tour is the idea that there has been way too much criticism of the sport by the folks who depend on it for a living.
Drivers, TV broadcasters and others have been either chided or reminded that their critical comments might cause fans to tune out and not show up. Team owner Jack Roush was especially critical of TV broadcasters.
But the word was also being spread by NASCAR during meetings with drivers.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in one of the meetings and talked about his impressions this week. He was critical of NASCAR last August at Michigan, saying NASCAR needed to do much more to add excitement to the sport.
He was asked whether -- after the drivers' recent meeting with NASCAR -- he would make those same comments today.
"After the meeting I wouldn't feel comfortable making those comments in the environment I was in," he said. "I would take those comments directly to (NASCAR President) Mike (Helton) probably after practice once he's calmed down a little bit or got away from the work environment and the stress of the garage where he would hear me, because everybody goes up in that trailer complaining all day long about something."
"They weren't in there saying 'Don't do this here anymore or don't do that anymore.' They showed us some examples of us being negative and then they showed us some examples of the exact, direct reflection of that on the sport and what it did to the ratings. And it was very convincing. They didn't fudge the whole equation to look good for them."
"It was pretty convincing what they showed me," Earnhardt said.
Sounds like Junior won't be speaking out much this season.
And that would seem to be in direct conflict with NASCAR's stated goal of letting the drivers' personalities show through. Some of those personalities are cantankerous, ornery, sarcastic and critical. If you want the kind of genuineness from drivers -- the kind that fans appreciate -- to show through, you can't urge them to keep their criticisms private.
And how does this idea that TV broadcasters are too harsh on NASCAR make any sense? Media criticism of NASCAR is tame compared to other sports.
Is a TV analyst supposed to tell viewers that everything is peachy even if he knows otherwise? That's a great way to lose all credibility. The Woods Of Virginia – Part 7: Road Warriors By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com The Wood Brothers Racing Team has been one of the backbones of NASCAR since the sport was founded. The Woods, from Stuart, Va., have been racing continuously in the division now known as Sprint Cup since 1953 and have 96 wins to their credit. In a RacinToday exclusive series, Eddie Wood, one of the second-generation members of the team, discusses what he considers the top 10 wins in Wood Brothers history. The wins aren't ranked in any particular order. This week's entry recalls the team's triumph in the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside International Raceway on Jan. 23, 1966. — Over the years, the Woods have been best known for their successes on the superspeedways of NASCAR, but when it came to NASCAR-sanctioned road racing in the 1960s, the Virginia brothers – Glen, Leonard, Ray Lee and Delano – headed up an outfit that was essentially unbeatable. The first show of strength was in the season-ending Golden State 400 at Riverside in November of 1963, when Dave MacDonald drove the No. 21 to a strong second-place finish behind Darel Dieringer after the two swapped the lead throughout the race. And MacDonald was able to secure his spot even though he lost third gear, his highest, midway through the race. Glen Wood said MacDonald had the presence of mind to back off the gas when the RPMs got too high on Riverside's long backstretch. "When it got to about 6,000, he had enough sense to lift off," Wood said. "On the rest of the track, he was OK with just second gear." In that same race, Marvin Panch drove the second Wood entry, finishing third in the No. 121. In their next Riverside run, on Jan.19, 1964, the Woods put Dan Gurney in the 121. Glen Wood recalls that Gurney's reputation in NASCAR land was one of a driver who was difficult to work with. But their experience showed the opposite to be true. Wood said Gurney was a smart racer who knew what he wanted in a car and expected the crew to provide it. The Woods had no problem with that. Wood said the Holman-Moody crew members who had worked with Gurney in the past said he was hard to please about things like the placement of the seat. Wood said it was no big deal to accommodate him. "Dan was tall and long-legged and had to have the seat moved way back," Wood said, adding that the crew moved the seat back a good bit before Gurney ever tried it. "It wasn't too far off to start with, and we moved it just a little before we got it right," he said. Once Gurney sat in the car, he surprised the Woods by practically standing up on the brake pedal. "I thought he was going to push the pedal through the floorboard," Wood recalled. "But he said that was how hard he would be pushing it at the end of the backstretch, and he wanted to make sure a wheel cylinder or something wasn't going to blow out." Wood said Gurney and Leonard Wood made a great pair when it came to preparing the car. "Dan was right there with Leonard to discuss things," he said. In his first start with the Woods, Gurney dominated the 1964 race and won over Panch in the Woods' No. 21. The Woods also carried the No. 22 of Fireball Roberts to Riverside that year and he gave the brothers a 1-2-3 sweep of the finishing order. But that feat was marred by the fatal crash of a former Wood driver, Joe Weatherly, the reigning Cup champion, who died in a crash of Bud Moore's No. 8 Mercury. In 1965, the Woods won again at Riverside with Gurney in the 121 and Panch third in the 21. But from a pit crew standpoint, the 1966 race topped them all. The Woods took three cars to Riverside that year, the 121 for Gurney, the 41 for Curtis Turner and the 21 for Panch. Gurney and Panch were proven road racers and Riverside veterans. Turner had plenty of experience driving fast on winding roads, but most of it was back in the days when he was hauling moonshine whiskey. He'd never seen Riverside until he showed up to drive the No. 41. During the opening practice session, Glen Wood took a position near the esses, so he could assess Turner's road-racing skills. It was a sight to see, he said. "I knew he'd be trying hard and probably wind up off in the ditch," Wood said. "When he'd come through the esses he'd be almost off the track on one side then he'd be almost off the track on the other side." But it was effective. "Before he came off the track, he set a new track record," Wood said. David Pearson, in Cotton Owens' Dodge, won the pole, but the Wood drivers took the next three spots. During the race, Gurney and Turner swapped the lead several times, but Turner's bid for the win was undone by a mix-up on pit signals. Leonard Wood, in the days before two-way radios, walked beside the track and gave Turner the universal signal for a driver who has a big lead – two outstretched hands. Then he dropped his hands and walked back to the pit area. Turner, thinking the signal meant for him to pit, stopped on the next lap. Then, in his effort to make up for lost time, he spun off the course several times. "He wasn't driving recklessly before that, but then he started trying too hard," Wood said. "It was just something that happened. I understood that." At one point in the race, Gurney, sensing that Turner's aggressive driving might crash them both, let his teammate go when the racing got too tight for his comfort. It was a decision that eventually led to him taking the checkered flag, while Turner rallied to finish fourth and Panch dropped out with transmission trouble. Wood said Gurney proved a point that remains true to this day – there's a time to race a competitor and a time to let him pass you. "Sometimes you just have to let folks go," Wood said. Another aspect of that victory is still true in racing to day – it's easier to make up time on pit road than on the race track. According to the account of the race in Greg Fielden's "Forty Years of Stock Car Racing" Gurney's total time in the pits during six stops was two minutes. Second-finishing Pearson made seven stops for a total of three minutes and 51 seconds. Gurney is quoted in the article, saying: "The Woods really make a science of the pit work. Sometimes I don't see how they do it, they're so smooth." Glen Wood said one of their advantages back in the day was that they put more emphasis on pit work than their competitors. "We practiced pit stops more than most of the teams," he said. The Woods returned to Riverside in 1967 and worked the pits for Parnelli Jones and his Bill Stroppe-owned Ford, running their Riverside win streak to four. Then in 1968, Gurney was back behind the wheel of the No. 121. He scored his fifth overall Riverside win, while the Woods got their fifth straight. "It's hard to believe you could go to a race track 3,000 miles away, run a 500-mile race and do it for five years without something happening somewhere," Wood said. "It's just like Jimmie Johnson winning four straight championships. You just wonder, 'How could that happen?' " Martinsville Speedway or Martyrsville Speedway? Marty Smith/espn.com Every year, it seems, rumor and debate about Martinsville Speedway wafts through the NASCAR industry: Does a bare-bones bullring really deserve two Cup dates? Does rustic properly maximize NASCAR's premiere product, both for the industry and its fans? Are the hot dogs that good? This year is no different, though the speculation came a bit earlier than normal. Speedweeks is still two weeks away, but Martinsville is already Martyrsville. That annoys me. And judging by feedback I hear from you guys -- who complain often of being "tired of cookie-cutter tracks" -- it should annoy you, too. Martinsville is as cookie-cutter as a cake mold. Per the agreement between International Speedway Corp. and the Kansas Lottery folks, in return for a sparkling new casino on the Kansas Speedway property, ISC will petition NASCAR this year to add a second Sprint Cup date at Kansas in 2011, according to ISC chief operating officer Roger VanDerSnick. "That's part of our proposal to the lottery commission, which we have a tremendous partnership with," VanDerSnick said. "We agreed to petition NASCAR to realign a date for 2011. NASCAR controls the schedule, and our commitment is that we'd petition NASCAR to realign a date [to Kansas]." To get that second Kansas date, ISC must convince NASCAR to allow it to move an existing date from one of its 11 tracks outside Kansas -- Daytona, Darlington, Michigan, Richmond, Homestead-Miami, Talladega, Watkins Glen, Chicagoland, Phoenix, Auto Club and Martinsville. VanDerSnick said the 2011 scheduling process hasn't even begun, but that ISC is already heavy into a broad analytical look at which ISC-owned tracks are candidates to fork over a date. Some are expected, he said, like sheer dollars and cents. But the other half of the equation is far less finite, less tangible: the importance of history, and what fans want. "The others are really understanding the roots of the sport, and Martinsville is the oldest track on the circuit," VanDerSnick said. "It was there the first year we went racing. That's very important to us. We're taking this process very seriously." I received several calls from connected industry types about Martinsville last week, so I asked VanDerSnick specifically about it. He said it's a bit premature to note what tracks are being considered. "I won't go into details on that," he said. "We're looking at all options at this point. It's such a sensitive process. Wherever the date comes from will present challenges, and we certainly don't treat it lightly. "The right move isn't necessarily how much money we make it one year. It's broad. We have to keep in mind where the sport came from, and keep an eye on the core fan." I can only speak for myself. I like aggressive, physical competition when emotions run high and the driver's ability matters significantly. I just described Martinsvlle. Will Rules Changes Bring Back Retro Racing? Matthew Pizzolato/insiderracingnews.com The fans have spoken and NASCAR has listened. Actually, the fans have been complaining for a long time and it's about time NASCAR did something about it. This past week, NASCAR announced a plethora of rule changes aimed at making the series more driver friendly. Hopefully, these changes will make the racing more exciting for fans to watch and help improve lagging ticket sales at the track as well as increase declining television ratings. In recent years, NASCAR has alienated a large portion of its "traditional" fan base, those fans that have followed the sport since its inception, by swapping race dates at tracks and eliminating some long standing traditions, and tightening rules for drivers on the race track. Even the new Chase point format has garnered criticism from some fans. It was announced recently that the rear wing on the COT will be replaced by a spoiler, a welcome change to both drivers and fans alike. Recent crashes at Talladega involving cars becoming airborne are probably what sparked the change, although NASCAR denies this. Reverting back to a spoiler is a change that needed to be made for safety reasons, not just to make the cars more aesthetically pleasing. Using a spoiler has aerodynamic advantages that will make passing easier because by its configuration, a spoiler allows for a side draft that will make passing easier at superspeedways. The November Talladega race became a follow the leader parade when NASCAR implemented its bump drafting rule because when running the rear wing and not having a side draft, drivers had resorted to bumping a car out of the way in order to make a pass. The bump drafting rule has recently been rescinded. A long standing mantra in stock car racing is, "If you ain't rubbing, you ain't racing." It is this philosophy that NASCAR has embraced with some of its recent rule changes that will put racing back into the hands of the drivers. In addition to allowing bump drafting, NASCAR has increased the size of the restrictor plates for races at Daytona, which will increase horsepower and allow for more throttle response, which will in turn make for better racing because drivers should be able to make more passes. "Over the past 10 years we've dramatically increased safety and that mission continues. However, it's time for us to allow the drivers to drive. We don't want the rules and regulations to get in the way of great racing and fantastic finishes," Brian France, NASCAR chairman and CEO was quoted as saying in an article on nascar.com. "NASCAR is a contact sport -- our history is based on banging fenders." All of these changes were probably made to entice traditional fans back to the race tracks, and it took a couple of seasons with declining ratings to force NASCAR's hand. "We will put it back in the hands of the drivers and we will say, 'Boys, have at it, and have a good time,'" NASCAR's vice president for competition, Robin Pemberton said in a David Caraviello article for nascar.com. However, one of the things that have been overlooked in the euphoria cause by the rule changes is that NASCAR may be trying shift responsibility for the racing product from itself to the drivers if next season isn't a success. Whether that is NASCAR's intent or not remains to be seen, but that has been the slant that some of the recent media coverage has given the new rule changes. No one is to blame for the ratings fiasco but NASCAR itself; they are the ones ultimately responsible for over policing the sport, driving away its traditional fan base, and designing the COT, which has failed miserably. The drivers have to obey the rules on the track or face repercussions. Yet, if the 2010 season ushers in better ratings and increased ticket sales, who will be responsible for the success, the drivers or NASCAR? Forget Dale Jr.; Jeffrey Earnhardt is struggling with his famous name
by Mary Jo Buchanan/speedwaymedia.com While Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has recently admitted that it is not easy living up to the Earnhardt name, nephew Jeffrey Earnhardt is seemingly having an even more difficult time. Jeffrey Earnhardt, 20 year old son of Kerry Earnhardt and grandson of the late Dale Earnhardt, has been trying to make his way in the sport. Yet, he has no firm racing schedule for the 2010 season. The team that bears his grandfather's name, Dale Earnhardt Inc., has no definite plans to run the young Earnhardt. The team, which recently merged to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing is hoping at best to form a satellite team that can field a car for Jeffrey Earnhardt. "Sponsorship has been very difficult and he certainly would like to get in the game," Jeff Steiner, DEI Executive Vice President said of the young Earnhardt. "Nationwide is our target. We feel that's probably the best spot for him to be." Earnhardt would love nothing more than to get back to racing in the Nationwide Series. He competed in two Nationwide races in the 2009 season. In his first official debut, Earnhardt competed in the Nationwide Series at the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen for Key Motorsports. He started in the 36th position and ended the day in the 24th spot and on the lead lap. "I'm so proud of the team," Earnhardt said of his Nationwide debut race finish. "They did a great job and got the car running pretty good." Earnhardt then tackled the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve track in Montreal in his second race of his Nationwide start. He finished the race, in spite of having to change a transmission, racing the rain with fuel mileage, and switching to rain tires in the final laps of the race. Earnhardt brought his no. 40 Key Motorsports Chevy home in the 31st position, a respectable finish in light of the many challenges on and off the track. "The race was a little crazy," Earnhardt said. "It's just one of those races where if you can make it back to the garage with a car and you're able to drive it in, you had a pretty decent day." Earnhardt made his way to the Nationwide Series in 2009 on a wing and a prayer, with little sponsorship and a great deal of advice and counsel from his father. Prior to that, Earnhardt had success in the Camping World East Series, especially during the 2007 season, where he finished 5th and won the Series Most Popular Driver award. Yet, the young Earnhardt struggled in 2008 in that same Series. There were rumors that he was more interested in partying with friends, as well as the opposite sex, than focusing on his racing. In fact, in the 2008 race at Dover, Earnhardt was pulled from the race car. He was replaced by Aric Almirola, who went on to win the race. Since that time, Earnhardt has reportedly renewed his dedication to the sport. With that, there seemed to be a bit of a glimmer of hope for his career when talk circulated that that his uncle Dale Jr. might just put him in the seat at JR Motorsports left vacant by Brad Keselowski, who moved to Penske Racing and the Cup Series. But Earnhardt's hopes were again dashed when the team announced that Kelly Bires would fill that ride. Earnhardt again has been forced to wait to continue his racing career as DEI and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing continue to try to secure sponsorship for some sort of Nationwide ride. As his famous uncle Dale Jr. has stated so eloquently about the pressure of being an Earnhardt, "I have a famous last name and that goes with the territory." Yet, there may be no one that knows that better than Jeffrey, who is more than even his famous uncle, feeling the weight of that very special last name. Ambrose Has The Perfect Combination To Contend By Sarah Farlee Associate Editor, CupScene.com
CONCORD, N.C. - Marcos Ambrose has realistic goals in mind as the 2010 Sprint Cup Series inches closer to opening weekend. "I want to win a race and content for the Chase," said Ambrose, who was one of the biggest surprises in the 2009 season and finished 18th in the final standings. "I feel like we have the team behind us, there is no reason why we shouldn't contend." Ambrose spent a majority of his 2009 season looking good – after all he was contending for a job as a full-time Cup Series driver. This year Ambrose says it's about staying consistent and building. "You have to have some luck on your side," Ambrose says. "And you have to consistently perform and we have to do our job well." "I believe that if we do our job well and put ourselves in good positions we can contend for the chase no doubt," added Ambrose. There are no doubts on the sponsorship side for Ambrose. The No. 47 entry is owned by JTG Daugherty Racing and the business model Tad and Jodi Geschickter, along with Brad Daugherty, use has aided in the success of Ambrose and his team. That will continue. "We're fully funded, and we're excited about that," said Ambrose. "When all the teams around us are either just hanging on or shrinking we're growing." Ambrose attributes that growth to not only the team's business model, but also their alignment with Michael Waltrip Racing. "The whole Michael Waltrip stable is growing," said Ambrose. "We have a technical alliance and partnership with Waltrip and I think it's a perfect combination of a great business structure, secure sponsorships and worth ethic." "We have the competition side looked after with Waltrip so it's a great combination," Ambrose says. "We're fully integrated with Waltrip. It's a partnership and a marriage and I think it works out great." The integration with Waltrip has allowed Ambrose to make leaps toward reaching his goals, however, Ambrose says there are still things to be done to continue making advances throughout the season and to remain competitive. "I think we need to do no more than what we've got," said Ambrose. "We need to keep the curve going. Keep it on the upward swing." "The continuity factor, no doubt," Ambrose adds. "Experience comes into play and the rest will take care of itself." On the side of experience Ambrose feels in the middle. He notes that at 33 he would not consider himself over the hill, but then again, he says, that's not a spring chicken either. Ambrose says experience has to help, but he realizes it's not everything. "I'm racing against guys that have 10 – 15 years experience," said Ambrose. "It's hard to really use experience as an excuse, but NASCAR is a sport where the more you do it the better you get. There's no doubt about that." One experience Ambrose has had on-track that has helped his confidence was the season finale at Homestead. Ambrose battled, and passed, eventual four-time champion Jimmie Johnson for the lead. "Even though it only lasted a couple laps," said Ambrose. "It was awesome because it just showed the world how far our teams come." "It didn't end well for us," added Ambrose. "But I think that moment was probably the highlight of my career." Ambrose looks to 2010 as an opportunity to add more career highlights. NASCAR 2010: It's All About You By Cathy Elliott NASCAR Media)
It's kind of funny how a single word can become a rallying cry for an entire nation. Some notable examples from the past include things like "freedom," "equality," and tragically in the past couple of weeks, "Haiti."
While it can hardly be called new, NASCAR Nation can happily claim a rejuvenated buzzword of its own in 2010. From Victory Lane at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November 2009 through every speech at Champion's Week in Las Vegas and every announcement made at the annual media tour in Charlotte earlier this week, one small word has been made into a very big deal. Fans. Considering myself relatively normal, I think most people are a lot like me and don't necessarily limit their sports interest to stock car racing (although it goes without saying that NASCAR is the number one choice).
Most years — yes, even this one — I am firmly camped in front of the TV anytime the UNC Tarheels are playing basketball, not even caring that my tent and sleeping bag don't match the decor. Although they do cover up that scorch mark from the time I tried to make s'mores in the living room. For the record, a bad idea.
But Roy Williams has never made himself available to talk to me in the off-season.
Being a Washington Redskins nut, I have no dog in the Super Bowl hunt this year.
But I have kept a flow chart for the past 10 years to keep track of the Redskins' coaches, and the only thing they have in common so far, with the exception of that Gibbs fellow, is being noticeably absent from anyplace where I am present.
And while I truly believe this could the Cubs' year, I have begun to notice that Alfonso Soriano has never stopped to chat with me in a hotel hallway. Not even once. Can you believe that?
The NCAA, the NFL and MLB and all other sports seem to make an effort to take care of their players, and that's as it should be. But from where I sit, the only one of the top four American sports currently going out of its way to take care of its fans is NASCAR.
Lots of statistics out there maintain that NASCAR is the number one spectator sport in the country. Race fans are passionate. They are also outspoken. So when fans in general seemed to be dissatisfied with "the product" over the past couple of years, NASCAR not only remarked that opinion, but took action to change it.
On January 21, NASCAR President Mike Helton said that this season, competitors would have more latitude behind the wheel, a "more driver, less car" type of approach.
"It doesn't mean that you get a free pass out of jail card or anything from some of the characters we have got in the sport, but it certainly means that what we are encouraging the competitors to do … is for their character and their personality within reason to be unfolded," he said.
Also, the wing affixed to the back of the cars will be replaced with the more traditional-looking spoiler sometime in the first half of the season.
Bottom line? The racing will be more exciting and competitive, and the cars will look better while they're out there beating and banging.
Why? For the fans.
We all work hard and feel we deserve those all too rare vacations. We have earned them. After completing the longest season in professional sports, surely NASCAR athletes deserve a vacation, as well.
Here's how they spent those days off. More than just the top 12 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers traveled to Las Vegas for the season-ending banquet festivities. Many were involved in team and sponsor changes and the negotiations that go along with them.
Let's hope they enjoyed the week of Christmas and their New Year's celebration of choice, because immediately following those holidays came …
A Goodyear tire test. The National Motorsports Press Association's annual convention, and the NASCAR media tour.
There was the hugely popular Sprint Sound & Speed in Nashville, Tenn., an interactive fan event featuring country music performers along with NASCAR superstars including Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne.
On a side note, I'm told you haven't heard anything until you've heard Mike Helton and Blake Shelton singing a karaoke duet. Brooks and Dunn's decision to retire when they did was a wise one; they wouldn't have wanted to face THAT level of competition.
From Nashville, it was on to Daytona International Speedway for Preseason Thunder, another opportunity for fans to enjoy some personal contact with their heroes.
Why are these things so important? Because "it always helps when the drivers are out and they're visible and we can be around the fans and give the fans an opportunity to be around us and have contact with us and our cars and the main items and pieces that make the sport go — the things that they follow, which is the drivers and the cars.
"If we can give them as much access to that as we can, it's good."
Those aren't my words, by the way. That's a quote from one Mr. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who participated in Preseason Thunder 2010, along with Jeff Gordon and many others.
Race fans, you are the best. For the most part, you don't just get around to watching the races during the Chase, or when Daytona and the Brickyard roll around. You are invested in the season from start to finish. You care about NASCAR, and you care about the athletes who serve as the ambassadors of the sport.
Isn't it a wonderful feeling to know they feel exactly the same way about you? Tom Higgins Scuffs Baker finally gets his Daytona 500 win EDITOR'S NOTE: In the run-up to the 2010 Daytona 500, Tom Higgins reflects on key races from each decade. This installment, the first of a five-part series, is about the second 500-miler at "Big Bill" France's big track in Daytona Beach, Fla., in 1960.
Buddy Baker was beyond exhilarated. "It's going to be a long time before this smile fades from my face," the witty Baker said, beaming. "No one could get it off right now even if they used mortician's wax!" The reason for Buddy's glee: After 19 years of trying in the Daytona 500 and often coming agonizingly close to victory, NASCAR's fun-loving "Gentle Giant" finally had won. And Baker did so in rousing, record style on Feb. 17, 1980, averaging a stunning 177.602 mph at Daytona International Speedway, where the 500 looms this year on Feb. 14. Big Buddy's speed easily smashed the previous mark for stock car racing's biggest show, 161.550 mph set by A.J. Foyt in 1972. At the time in 1980 Baker's feat ranked as the fastest 500-mile auto race ever run anywhere, including ultra-fast Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Three decades later, his speed remains the record at Daytona. Baker's rivals had seen it coming. "The deal," said Richard Petty, destined to win seven Daytona 500s, "is that we're going to be following Buddy for a long, long time all through the race if his car holds together." The car, an Oldsmobile, was so quick that during race week someone nicknamed it "The Gray Ghost." Other drivers told NASCAR officials that Baker's Olds, which had a black and silvery-gray paint scheme, was so speedy that it was blending into the asphalt as Buddy overtook them. Cup director Dick Beaty consequently took the unprecedented step of ordering Day-Glo pink strips taped to the car's grille. Buddy tried to play it cool about his chances, but the great prospect finally overcame him. "I'm flying," he conceded 24 hours before the 500's green flag. Then he echoed Petty. Said Buddy: "I'm running laps at 197 (mph). I'm going to win if nothing goes wrong." Starting from the pole, which he'd won at 194.009 mph, Buddy led 30 of the first 33 laps on the 2.5-mile track in the car owned by Harry Ranier and engineered by Waddell Wilson. Baker then eased off a bit and watched Petty, Neil Bonnett, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough and Dale Earnhardt battle at the front. Baker reasserted the power of crew chief Wilson's engine on Lap 88 and stayed ahead through Lap 180, when he pitted. But it wasn't a runaway. Just before the final series of pit stops began, Baker was in a tight aerodynamic draft with Allison, Bonnett and Earnhardt. As the crew awaited on pit road, Wilson ordered a fuel-only stop. "How much do you value this gas can?" crewman Buck Brigance excitedly asked Wilson. Brigance, a former motorcycle racing champion, was the gas man on the team. "Why?" Waddell asked him. "If you'll let us jab a hole in the bottom of it after I lift it up, the gas will flow into the car faster." "Do whatever it takes, but get every drop of gas into the tank," said Wilson. "We'll need it to finish." As Brigance inserted the nozzle of the 11-gallon gas can into the car, another crewman punched a hole in the bottom with a putty knife. The fuel went in far more rapidly than usual. "Knowing how impetuous Buddy is, I had reached in around his window netting and grabbed him by the neck of his uniform," recalls Wilson. "I wasn't going to let go until Buck signaled he had finished the fueling. "I was very concerned Buddy would take off too early. "The very instant Buck finished, Buddy almost simultaneously dropped the clutch. Buck didn't quite have the nozzle all the way out of the car, so Buddy pulled Buck into me. Buck and I both went sprawling down pit road." The tumble was worth it. As the front-runners got back up to full speed on Lap 182 following the pit stops, Baker held a six-second lead over Bonnett. Buddy appeared home-free. However, he had been in great position to win the Daytona 500 several times before, only to be cruelly denied. In 1971 bad strategy in a late pit stop cost him. He led 157 laps in '73, but experienced engine failure six laps from the finish. He had led by a half lap in '75 when his car quit running without warning. In '78 he was the leader with five laps left and his engine broke again. In '79 he dominated the preliminary events during Speed Weeks, but on the 500's very first lap his engine started missing and he lasted only 38 laps, finishing 40th in a 41-car field. "All this was rushing through my mind at the end of the 1980 race," recalls Buddy. "I couldn't help but wonder if something bad might happen to me again." So Buddy stayed on the throttle, padding his lead to 13 seconds. With such a comfortable advantage, Wilson implored his driver by radio to slow down and conserve fuel. Baker refused to back off. "I can't hear you," Buddy told Wilson in a sing-songy voice. In the pits Wilson was furious. The radio communication between crew chief and driver became heated. What was said? "It sounded like a busy Saturday night in Junior Wong's kitchen!" Baker revealed later. Who? Wong was a fishing pal of Buddy's and mine. Junior ran the Ho-Toy, a small, popular Chinese restaurant in Charlotte. The place usually was packed on weekends, and the conversation in the kitchen was almost unintelligible. Turns out the Baker-Wilson argument was academic. A rival's blown engine forced the last three laps to be run under caution, assuring that Buddy would have enough fuel to finish. Baker took the checkered flag followed by Allison, Bonnett and Earnhardt. It appeared that Earnhardt's Olds was strong enough to make a run at Baker. However, Dale's crew left a lug nut off during the last pit stop and he lost a lap whenhe was forced back onto pit road. Buddy, the son of NASCAR pioneer Buck Baker, watched as his own sons, Bryan and Brandon, bawled in Victory Lane as emotions overflowed. "The Daytona 500 is a measure of a driver's career," said Buddy. "Because I had such awful disappointments before, winning lifted the world off my shoulders. "Winning this race is something you're always remembered for." Wilson recalls an amusing exchange he had with Ranier in Victory Lane. "Harry, naturally, was excited about winning not only the race, but a record purse. "Harry said, 'We won $102,000!' "I said, 'We won $92,000. I paid a fabricator $10,000 to put the body (sheet metal) on the car just right. He had to work a lot of overtime.' "That price was unheard of at the time. I figured I'd be fired on the spot. But Harry was so tickled he just shrugged it off." Ranier passed away a few years ago. Wilson maintains a tie to the sport as an adviser to a transmission manufacturer. Buddy retired from the cockpit in 1993 and subsequently joined his father in several motorsports halls of fame. Buddy has worked as an analyst on telecasts of races and as a consultant to various teams. He presently hosts a call-in show on Sirius radio on Mondays and Tuesdays from 7-10 p.m. And Monday (Jan. 25) is his 69th birthday. Give him a ring and ask about the Daytona 500 of 30 years ago and his ride in "The Gray Ghost." You'll hear a great tale. Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Heartbreak On the High Banks in 2004 Kelly Crandall/bleacherreport.com Winning a race in any auto racing series is hard. From skill and determination, equipment and teamwork, to race day luck and strategy, it must all come together in order to be the first one to the checkered flag. The annual endurance race at the Daytona International Speedway, The Rolex 24 at Daytona, puts all those keys of success to the ultimate test. Originally a three-hour race, then a 200-kilometer distance event, before finally turning into an all day affair, the Rolex 24 is the first major auto race in the United States at the start of each New Year. Since the NASCAR season doesn't kick off until a week later, you'll find oval racing's stars trade stints in the prestigious race where winning drivers from all classes go home with a brand new Rolex Daytona watch. Casey Mears and Juan Pablo Montoya are two NASCAR drivers that have a watch around their wrist; Montoya actually has two, winning back-to-back with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2007 and 2008. However, no drivers will feel the agony of defeat in the Rolex 24 than what came a few years prior. Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. work well at the restrictor plate tracks of Daytona and Talladega, they also get along well off them, becoming fast friends since they started racing together in 2000. So when the two were paired with road course ace Andy Wallace for the 2004 Rolex 24 it was a winning combination. Stewart would be entered in the race for the second time, his first appearance two years prior in 2002 when an engine problem ended his team's race past the halfway mark. Earnhardt Jr. would also be appearing for the second time, he first raced in 2001 with his father where they finished fourth overall. But over the course of two days in 2004, the blue and red Crawford CITGO Chevrolet was the class of both the field and race, for much of the time. Each driver—Wallace, Stewart, and Earnhardt Jr.—took their time in their stint and worked up a rhythm that was one lap ahead of the field. Earnhardt Jr. was behind the wheel during the night stint as the rain came and started to make a mess of the course. At 7:38 a.m. on Sunday as the sun rose officials stopped the race, just past the 19-hour mark. For the next three hours everyone sat, plotting a new strategy for when the race restarted. The track conditions would be different, the cars would now react in a manner the drivers had not dealt with over the last half of a day, and there would only be about five hours to figure it all out. Five hours to catch the Crawford team that had things well in command. After the race restarted Stewart took the reins of the machine that had been leading since the seventh hour late Saturday night. Five hours to go and the car was screaming around the high banks, through the road course, and headed to an historic win. Four hours left and still in control. Three hours to go and the excitement began to build as the race continued to wind down. With two hours to go it was in reach, everyone on the team could feel it now. Except, inside the car Stewart was feeling something else. The wheels didn't feel right and the car wasn't handling properly. Over the final 90 minutes Stewart had to make three unscheduled pit stops as the team tried to figure out what was going wrong. Through it all though they continued to hold the lead with just an hour remaining. With 30 minutes before the checkered flag came out, white smoke began to bellow out of the No. 2 machine as it raced to the finish. And then it stopped, as did the pursuit of victory for NASCAR's biggest stars. For 23 hours and 45 minutes everything was right in the world, everything held together. But with just 15 minutes remaining on the clock, the world watched as Tony Stewart tried to steer the ailing beast down the backstretch before the left rear tire pulled off of its rim, the car spun, and came to rest next to the wall. It was over. All the hard work, focus, determination, and 20 plus hours of nothing but heart was all for not as Andy Pilgrim drove his No. 54 pasted Stewart and into Daytona's victory lane. After the mangled Crawford Chevy was brought back to the garage Stewart told the world, "I told the team I wanted hazard pay for driving on two wheels. None of the tires on the rear were on the ground and it kept getting worse and I could still run fast enough to pull away from second and win this thing, but then the tire came off and turned sideways." Pilgrim and Bell Motorsports sprayed the champagne that appeared to have been sitting on ice for the Crawford team, as owner Max Crawford could only file away another disappointment. "It's happened before," he said. "We had a motor blow up in Le Mans with 23 (hours) and change. It happens." While the team and fans all over the world spent the day wondering what could have been, Earnhardt Jr. smiled and reflected. "They put me in a fast race car and I don't do this every day. All you can do is set a pace you're comfortable with and run it and hope it's good enough." "You can't predict problems like we had." Nor would anyone predict that when Stewart and Earnhardt Jr. returned to the Daytona track two weeks later, February 15, they would dominate another big race: the Daytona 500. Combined, the two led 155 of 200 laps with Stewart in front the most, Earnhardt Jr. following in his footsteps. But victory in the 500 wasn't possible for both drivers and after spinning down the backstretch in the Rolex 24; Earnhardt Jr. would pass Stewart down the backstretch with 19 laps to go. They finished first and second that day and all seemed to be forgotten of the ill-fated endurance race. Heartbreak to happiness in just a matter of days. However, if the two drivers were to ever return to participate in the event, which they haven't done since 2004, maybe the third time will be the charm. There is still unfinished business for Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. For Dale Earnhardt Jr., life as an Earnhardt is not easy, especially when you're not winning By Kenny Bruce/scenedaily.com Being an Earnhardt isn't always a bed of roses. Being an Earnhardt that isn't winning races can be even more difficult.
Not that Dale Earnhardt Jr., son of a seven-time NASCAR Cup champion and the sport's most popular driver for seven years running, is complaining.
"I asked to be in this position," the 35-year-old Earnhardt Jr. says. "I wanted to be a race car driver. I have a famous last name and that goes with the territory."
And, he says, he can take the responsibilities and the expectations that come with it.
As Earnhardt Jr. prepares to embark on his third season as driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet, the responsibilities and expectations remain unchanged. Despite having only one Cup victory in his last 57 starts, despite not having a multiple-win season since 2004, and despite finishing 25th in points and missing NASCAR's Chase For The Sprint Cup in 2009, Earnhardt Jr. is expected to win races and to contend for championships.
He's expected to succeed, more so than perhaps any other driver in the series. It may not be fair, but it's the way his career in the sport has played out.
"It's been said many times that there is more pressure on him than he deserves," says team owner Rick Hendrick. "But that just comes with the territory."
It started well before he ever climbed behind the wheel of a race car. As his father's career took off, the younger Earnhardt got a taste of how others outside of the sport perceived what took place on the inside.
"I don't know why this sticks out in my brain, but there was an accident, when Bobby [Allison's] tire blew and he hit the wall [at Talladega in 1987], some kid blamed my dad for that," Earnhardt Jr. says. "My dad was running behind Bobby, about five car lengths, when it happened. Some kid the next day at school was trying to tell me how my dad almost killed somebody. That was his exact quote.
"That's no excuse. To me, that was normal. I don't look back on that and go, 'All that stuff was abnormal, boy, it made me tougher,' or 'Woe is me for being a damn Earnhardt.' That was normal. That was life. That was just how things were. And you dealt with it and that was all right.
"I never complained about it; I never made it an excuse. I definitely wouldn't trade [anything] for having to not hear those kinds of things."
His fan base is the largest, and most vocal, in the sport. They worry when he doesn't run well, and they light up message boards across the Internet when they don't think he's getting equipment equal to that of teammates Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin. But at the same time, they always seem to believe that success is just around the next corner on the track.
Earnhardt Jr. wants to win races just as badly as the next guy. He knows his fans want him to succeed. And he doesn't want to disappoint. He also knows there's work being done to make his team better for the upcoming season in hopes of getting the struggling team back in the hunt.
"There's no way for me to silence the critics other than [to] get the job done," Hendrick says. "… That's what we've got to do."
Since he made the move to Hendrick, Earnhardt Jr. has managed only one win in 72 starts. While Hendrick says the team could see improvement towards the end of the 2009 season, "we had some of the most awful luck in the world.
"When you get snake-bit," he says, "you go to the track thinking it's going to happen. You're waiting for it to happen.
"We put all that behind us. He's been working out, he's been here with the team; he's been doing the things that we've asked him to do. He feels the pressure, because he wants to race good and he wants to run good. We just need to get a couple of good races under our belt and not have any bad luck. We're in it for the long haul and we're going to keep attacking it.
"I've seen the commitment from him. They're as locked and loaded as we all know how to be. But we're not going to be able to make … the fans feel better until we do better. That's just the bottom line."
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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