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Happy Thursday to one and all.
Quote of the Day
"You win some, you lose some and you wreck some."
--Dale Earnhardt Sr.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
from Ticleve1
Momma,
You allow "a few snipits" from Josh Stewart of the Long Island Press, which we all know is a vast hub of NASCAR fans, that slam Teresa Earnhardt? Why don't we hear from Jr. himself? If he wants to drive, fine. If he wants to be a celebrity, fine. If he wants to be both, fine. It's funny what a few million dollars will do to one's outlook on life. It's the same in any sport now. Anything that Americans touch gets bastardized with money. We should hear from Earnhardt Jr. himself though, not from Josh Stewart.
"NASCAR, Country Stars Collaborate For Charity"
NASCAR drivers and country stars have a lot of the same fans. Next week in Nashville, they will merge for a fundraiser; called "Sound & Speed. "
The drivers coming to this year's event include Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip and his brother Michael Waltrip. Singers include Jo Dee Messina, Trace Adkins and Joe Nichols.
Nashville's own supermodel Niki Taylor is also slated to be there. This year will be quite the triumphant return for Taylor who met her husband, driver Burney Lamar, at last year's event.
There will be autograph sessions, seminars and then the big event where Jo Dee Messina, Josh Turner and Rodney Atkins will rock the Gaylord Entertainment Center.
All the money raised from the event, that will take place next Saturday, goes to Victory Junction Gang Camp for seriously ill children.
For more on the Sound and Speed event, events and ticket prices, visit SoundandSpeed2007.com .
Reigning NASCAR Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and top-10 finishers Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne lead the group of 24 drivers scheduled for the opening test session that begins Monday at Daytona International Speedway.
The first group of Cup teams is scheduled to test Monday through Wednesday, with Thursday as a rain date.
The second group, which includes runner-up Matt Kenseth and top-10 finishers Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin and Kyle Busch, will test Jan. 15-17, with Jan. 18 scheduled as a rain date. A total of 30 teams are scheduled to test in that session, including heralded rookie Juan Pablo Montoya, the former Indy 500 winner and Formula One driver from Columbia who will compete for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Teams are testing in preparation for the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 18.
Rudd to run #88 for RYR: Sources close to Robert Yates Racing told ESPN.com Wednesday that Ricky Rudd's Snickers Ford will carry the #88 in 2007. An announcement is expected as soon as this weekend, one source said. Since the mid-December announcement that Rudd would return to Nextel Cup Series racing following a year layoff, considerable speculation has centered on what number his RYR Ford would carry. Team officials were undecided and a bit evasive during a conference call following the announcement, leading many to speculate the number would switch to# 28 -- the number carried by Yates' first-ever Cup Series entry from its inception through 2003, when the car was switched to #38. Asked his preference, Rudd said he'd take the #28, which he drove for Yates from 2000-2002, posting three wins and 34 top-five finishes. But he'll get the #88, a decision made based on a 2002 agreement between RYR and Texaco/Havoline, sources said. The agreement, sources said, was that RYR could keep the #28 when Texaco left for Chip Ganassi Racing [#42 Dodge], but that Yates would wait several years to run the number. Yates and Masterfoods -- Snickers' parent company -- wanted to run the #28, but couldn't reach the required agreement with Texaco to do so, sources said.(ESPN.com)
SPEED and FOX Sports will offer team coverage of the 45th running of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona on Jan. 27-28, adding Sports Car racing to the growing list of events benefiting from expanded audience reach in 2007. In addition to the Rolex 24, SPEED and FOX Sports also recently announced they will work together on coverage of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the next eight years and Formula One for the next three years.
"The Rolex 24 At Daytona is one of the coolest events in all of motor sports," said Hunter Nickell, SPEED Executive VP & General Manager. "Over the last few years, it has really grown in stature, with more and more drivers from various global disciplines lining up to participate. To be able to team with our partners at FOX Sports and Grand American Road Racing for the first 90 minutes in 2007 will give even more fans a chance to tune in to a true endurance classic and give casual viewers an opportunity to get a taste of American Sports Car racing."
Veteran motor sports broadcaster Bob Varsha will host the coverage, with former racers David Hobbs and Dorsey Schroeder providing analysis and Leigh Diffey handling the play-by-play. Brian Till, Calvin Fish, Chris Neville and Mike Johnson will be reporting from the pits.
"Coverage of the Rolex 24 At Daytona on SPEED and FOX literally gives us the best of both worlds and marks another growth milestone for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve," said Grand-Am President Roger Edmondson. "The opening programming on FOX will expose Grand-Am to an unprecedented amount of viewers and will draw more potential fans to the Rolex Series as well as our anchor coverage on SPEED. The SPEED telecasts of the Rolex 24 the last few years have been the best in the business and adding FOX to the mix will only add to already outstanding Grand-Am race programming."
A new marketing and technical partnership hits the track at Daytona International Speedway this January as the NASCAR Busch Series team Fitz Motorsports and Grand Am Koni Challenge team, Hyper Sport, announced today a joint marketing program for long time Fitz Motorsports partner Supercuts.
Each a noted force in their respective series, Fitz Motorsports and Hyper Sport will provide a multi-faceted brand marketing entity for Supercuts both in the NASCAR and Grand Am arenas. Supercuts will be sharing the program with its vendor partners American Crew and Redken for Men each manufacturers of hair care products that are distributed in the over 2,200 Supercuts stores.
The teams also announced their primary driver line ups today. The newly-numbered 22 Supercuts Dodge Charger for Fitz Motorsports will be piloted in 2007 by a proven talent in David Stremme. Supercuts ventures into the Grand Am series as co-primary sponsor for Hyper Sport's Mustang GT #54, which will again be wheeled by Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey. The second Hyper Sport Mustang GT #55 will also bear co-primary Supercuts colors. Other drivers appearing in the Hyper Sport line up in 2007 will be Joe Foster, Rick Skelton, Scott Maxwell, Romeo Kapudija and Charles Espenlaub.
"We're very pleased with this partnership", said Patti Langworthy, Marketing Director for Supercuts. "This enhances our long-standing relationship with Fitz Motorsports, and allows us to expand our racing program to a series that has the added bonus of including one of television's premier personalities."
Team Owner, Armando Fitz, is equally pleased "Having a marketing relationship with Supercuts for the past five years has allowed us to continually motivate our racing program. Now, we are able to bring them even more exposure through Hyper Sport and Patrick (Dempsey)."
Hyper Sport principal Rick Skelton adds "This marks a great opportunity for both of our teams and Supercuts, as well as future partners. In marketing our team we have always come across companies that may benefit from a NASCAR program, and Armando has also come across several companies seeking to diversify into the exclusive business to business environment of Grand Am."
As the 2007 season progresses, Fitz Motorsports will continue to collaborate with Hyper Sport both on other marketing partners currently in negotiation and also on Hyper Sport's return to the Rolex Series planned for later this year. Fitz Motorsports drivers Carlos Contreras and Ruben Pardo will figure into program at that point as well.
A press conference is scheduled for 12:15pm on Saturday, January 6th in the media center at Daytona International Speedway to discuss further plans.
BAM Racing officials have confirmed that Mike Bliss will return as driver of the team's No. 49 NASCAR Nextel Cup entry this season.
Whatsonline.com is sponsoring the car, and veteran crew chief Lee McCall joins the operation in that role. The team is also using Evernham engines this season.
Bliss joined the team late last season and in seven attempted starts qualified on time for six races (the team is outside the top 35 in owner points and the guaranteed starting position that comes with that). Bliss recorded an average finish of 32.8.
"I welcome the opportunity to build upon the success we achieved as a team at the end of last season," Bliss said. "I am looking forward to competing full-time in the Nextel Cup Series again and have high expectations for both myself and the BAM Racing organization."
The team is moving from Arrington to Evernham engines for the season.
McCall joins the team after working with Chip Ganassi Racing.
Your![file:///C:/DOCUME~1/smonacel/LOCALS~1/Temp//att69dfd.gif]()
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 wins't climb up there and eat that candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt 1998
This list is authored by:
Sandra Monacelli
221 W. 57th Street 18B
Loveland, CO 80538
970/663-6967
Quote of the Day
"You win some, you lose some and you wreck some."
--Dale Earnhardt Sr.
News gathered from multiple sources, including but not limited to: Jayski.com, Cup Scene Daily, Thatsracin.com, catchfence.com, nascar.com, yahoo!, espn.com and others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Comments from the Peanut Galleryfrom Ticleve1
Momma,
You allow "a few snipits" from Josh Stewart of the Long Island Press, which we all know is a vast hub of NASCAR fans, that slam Teresa Earnhardt? Why don't we hear from Jr. himself? If he wants to drive, fine. If he wants to be a celebrity, fine. If he wants to be both, fine. It's funny what a few million dollars will do to one's outlook on life. It's the same in any sport now. Anything that Americans touch gets bastardized with money. We should hear from Earnhardt Jr. himself though, not from Josh Stewart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bits and Pieces"NASCAR, Country Stars Collaborate For Charity"
NASCAR drivers and country stars have a lot of the same fans. Next week in Nashville, they will merge for a fundraiser; called "Sound & Speed. "
The drivers coming to this year's event include Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip and his brother Michael Waltrip. Singers include Jo Dee Messina, Trace Adkins and Joe Nichols.
Nashville's own supermodel Niki Taylor is also slated to be there. This year will be quite the triumphant return for Taylor who met her husband, driver Burney Lamar, at last year's event.
There will be autograph sessions, seminars and then the big event where Jo Dee Messina, Josh Turner and Rodney Atkins will rock the Gaylord Entertainment Center.
All the money raised from the event, that will take place next Saturday, goes to Victory Junction Gang Camp for seriously ill children.
For more on the Sound and Speed event, events and ticket prices, visit SoundandSpeed2007.com .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johnson, Earnhardt Jr. lead group of drivers for first testReigning NASCAR Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and top-10 finishers Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne lead the group of 24 drivers scheduled for the opening test session that begins Monday at Daytona International Speedway.
The first group of Cup teams is scheduled to test Monday through Wednesday, with Thursday as a rain date.
The second group, which includes runner-up Matt Kenseth and top-10 finishers Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin and Kyle Busch, will test Jan. 15-17, with Jan. 18 scheduled as a rain date. A total of 30 teams are scheduled to test in that session, including heralded rookie Juan Pablo Montoya, the former Indy 500 winner and Formula One driver from Columbia who will compete for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Teams are testing in preparation for the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 18.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TNT looking at no commercial breaks in 2007? UPDATE Pepsi 400 only?: Sports Business Journal reports that TNT is floating a package to potential advertisers that would allow advertising during the race broadcast and eliminate commercial breaks. The advertising would take place on the screen during the broadcast and allow continuous race coverage. TNT will broadcast six Nextel Cup races next summer. The story reports that officials from Turner and NASCAR would not comment. The story also reported that TNT's Cup ratings are down 8.3% from last season.(Roanoke Times)(10-18-2006) UPDATE: hearing that the Pepsi 400 at Daytona will be shown with no commercials by TNT [in primetime] and the coverage will be sponsored by...Pepsi, but the other five races, as of now, will be shown with commercial breaks.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No Crew Changes at the #48, but new spotter: hearing that the #48 Lowe's / Hendrick Motorsports Chevy team and driver Jimmie Johnson expect no changes to the over-the-wall championship team when Nextel Cup testing begins next week in Daytona with the exception of spotter Earl Barban who is no longer with the team. Crew Chief Chad Knuas is reviewing resumes for a new spotter.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Martin's early 2007 sched announced: Mark Martin, who will run a limited Nextel Cup schedule for the first time since 1987, will once more run the Bud Shootout and the Daytona 500. Martin's Ginn Racing team announced the first 14 races of the 47-year-old driver's limited 2007 Cup schedule Tuesday. Martin will compete in the #01 Army-sponsored Chevy in 2007, sharing the ride with rookie Regan Smith. Martin returns for both the Bud Shootout and Nextel All-Star Challenge non-points events. In addition to the season-opener at Daytona, he'll also compete at California Speedway (Feb. 25), Las Vegas Motor Speedway (March 11), Atlanta Motor Speedway (March 18), Texas Motor Speedway (April 15), Phoenix International Raceway (April 21), Richmond International Raceway (May 5), Darlington Raceway (May 12), Lowe's Motor Speedway (May 27), Dover International Speedway (June 3), Pocono Raceway (June 10) and Michigan International Speedway (June 17). Due any unforseen circumstances, when Martin skips the March 25 race at Bristol Motor Speedway, he'll snap a string of 617 consecutive starts dating back to Feb. 14, 1988. Martin's first "car of tomorrow" race will be at Phoenix. Smith will compete at Bristol Motor Speedway (March 25), Martinsville Speedway (April 1) and Talladega Superspeedway (April 29). The remainder of Martin's schedule will be announced later this year.(SceneDaily.com)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More testing at Kentucky Speedway: #19-Elliott Sadler, #10-Scott Riggs and #55-Michael Waltrip were scheduled to test at Kentucky Speedway on Wednesday, Jan 3rd and #21-Ken Schrader and #21-Jon Wood are scheduled to test there on Tues. January 9th. Fans can watch from the Turn 3 Fan Center at no charge. Schedule subject to change daily. Test times vary.(Kentuckyspeedway.com)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sad News: Larry Childress: Mr. Larry J. Childress [brother of Richard Chirldress], 59, of Pfafftown, NC went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007, at his home. He was born Sept. 5, 1947, to the late Robert Reed and Virginia Harrell Childress. Mr. Childress was a member of Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church, where at one time he was a member of the United Methodist Men's Fellowship. Racing was his life and joy. He was associated with NASCAR for the past 25 years in many different aspects. He also was affiliated with RCR [Richard Childress Racing] Promotions and most recently with Childress Properties. He was an avid motorcyclist and loved the outdoors. He is survived by his loving wife of 38 years, Judy C. Childress of the home; a son, Larry C. Childress, and wife Tia of King; two grandchildren, Carter Jackson Childress, 2 years old and Avery Michelle Childress, 4 months old, whom he adored; two sisters, Linda Cline and husband Thomas of Cherokee and Becky Hodge and husband Johnny of Winston-Salem; two brothers, Richard Childress and wife Judy Kay of Lexington and Ronnie Childress and wife Debbie of Winston-Salem, many, many cherished friends and a very special companion, his dog Angel. A funeral service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 6, at Hayworth-Miller Silas Creek Chapel, with the Rev. Richard W. Payne officiating. Burial will follow at Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5, at Hayworth-Miller Silas Creek Chapel. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Victory Junction Gang Camp, 4500 Adam's Way, Randleman, NC 27317.(Winston Salem Journal)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kerr named Reuitmann's crew chief: Frank Kerr will replace Larry Carter as crew chief for #00-David Reutimann at Michael Waltrip Racing. Carter recently left MWR to become the crew chief for #26-Jamie McMurray at Roush Racing. "Frankie has been running our testing and Reutimann has been our test driver because everybody else has been busy," Waltrip said. "They've had some wonderful tests and have worked real well together." An official announcement is expected over the next few days. Kerr, a former car chief for #7-Robby Gordon and crew chief for Travis Kvapil in the Busch Series, will join Matt Borland (#44-Dale Jarrett) and David Hyder (#55-Waltrip) as crew chiefs for MWR's three Nextel Cup teams.(ESPN.com)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nardelli resigns from Home Depot: Bob Nardelli abruptly resigned Wednesday as chairman and chief executive of The Home Depot Inc. after a six-year tenure that saw the world's largest home improvement store chain post big profits but left investors disheartened by poor stock performance. Nardelli has also been under fire by investors for his hefty pay and is leaving with a severance package valued at about $210 million. He became CEO in December 2000 after being passed over for the top job at General Electric Co., where Nardelli had been a senior executive. Home Depot said Nardelli was being replaced by Frank Blake, its vice chairman, effective immediately. Blake's appointment is permanent, Home Depot spokesman Jerry Shields said. What he will be paid was not immediately disclosed, Shields said.(Associated Press), no idea what, if anything this means to the sponsorship of the #20 Home Depot Chevy that Tony Stewart drive for Joe Gibbs Racing, Home Depot is signed thru 2009.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#5 looking for new car chief: been told that the #5 Hendrick Motorsports team that Kyle Busch drive for, is looking for a new car chief after Craig Smokstad left to go to the #83 Red Bull Racing team that Brian Vickers drive for.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speed, Fox to offer team coverage of Rolex 24 at DaytonaSPEED and FOX Sports will offer team coverage of the 45th running of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona on Jan. 27-28, adding Sports Car racing to the growing list of events benefiting from expanded audience reach in 2007. In addition to the Rolex 24, SPEED and FOX Sports also recently announced they will work together on coverage of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the next eight years and Formula One for the next three years.
"The Rolex 24 At Daytona is one of the coolest events in all of motor sports," said Hunter Nickell, SPEED Executive VP & General Manager. "Over the last few years, it has really grown in stature, with more and more drivers from various global disciplines lining up to participate. To be able to team with our partners at FOX Sports and Grand American Road Racing for the first 90 minutes in 2007 will give even more fans a chance to tune in to a true endurance classic and give casual viewers an opportunity to get a taste of American Sports Car racing."
Veteran motor sports broadcaster Bob Varsha will host the coverage, with former racers David Hobbs and Dorsey Schroeder providing analysis and Leigh Diffey handling the play-by-play. Brian Till, Calvin Fish, Chris Neville and Mike Johnson will be reporting from the pits.
"Coverage of the Rolex 24 At Daytona on SPEED and FOX literally gives us the best of both worlds and marks another growth milestone for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve," said Grand-Am President Roger Edmondson. "The opening programming on FOX will expose Grand-Am to an unprecedented amount of viewers and will draw more potential fans to the Rolex Series as well as our anchor coverage on SPEED. The SPEED telecasts of the Rolex 24 the last few years have been the best in the business and adding FOX to the mix will only add to already outstanding Grand-Am race programming."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fitz Racing Partners with Hyper Sport and Grand Am Driver/Owner Patrick DempseyA new marketing and technical partnership hits the track at Daytona International Speedway this January as the NASCAR Busch Series team Fitz Motorsports and Grand Am Koni Challenge team, Hyper Sport, announced today a joint marketing program for long time Fitz Motorsports partner Supercuts.
Each a noted force in their respective series, Fitz Motorsports and Hyper Sport will provide a multi-faceted brand marketing entity for Supercuts both in the NASCAR and Grand Am arenas. Supercuts will be sharing the program with its vendor partners American Crew and Redken for Men each manufacturers of hair care products that are distributed in the over 2,200 Supercuts stores.
The teams also announced their primary driver line ups today. The newly-numbered 22 Supercuts Dodge Charger for Fitz Motorsports will be piloted in 2007 by a proven talent in David Stremme. Supercuts ventures into the Grand Am series as co-primary sponsor for Hyper Sport's Mustang GT #54, which will again be wheeled by Grey's Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey. The second Hyper Sport Mustang GT #55 will also bear co-primary Supercuts colors. Other drivers appearing in the Hyper Sport line up in 2007 will be Joe Foster, Rick Skelton, Scott Maxwell, Romeo Kapudija and Charles Espenlaub.
"We're very pleased with this partnership", said Patti Langworthy, Marketing Director for Supercuts. "This enhances our long-standing relationship with Fitz Motorsports, and allows us to expand our racing program to a series that has the added bonus of including one of television's premier personalities."
Team Owner, Armando Fitz, is equally pleased "Having a marketing relationship with Supercuts for the past five years has allowed us to continually motivate our racing program. Now, we are able to bring them even more exposure through Hyper Sport and Patrick (Dempsey)."
Hyper Sport principal Rick Skelton adds "This marks a great opportunity for both of our teams and Supercuts, as well as future partners. In marketing our team we have always come across companies that may benefit from a NASCAR program, and Armando has also come across several companies seeking to diversify into the exclusive business to business environment of Grand Am."
As the 2007 season progresses, Fitz Motorsports will continue to collaborate with Hyper Sport both on other marketing partners currently in negotiation and also on Hyper Sport's return to the Rolex Series planned for later this year. Fitz Motorsports drivers Carlos Contreras and Ruben Pardo will figure into program at that point as well.
A press conference is scheduled for 12:15pm on Saturday, January 6th in the media center at Daytona International Speedway to discuss further plans.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bliss returning to BAM Racing BAM Racing officials have confirmed that Mike Bliss will return as driver of the team's No. 49 NASCAR Nextel Cup entry this season.
Whatsonline.com is sponsoring the car, and veteran crew chief Lee McCall joins the operation in that role. The team is also using Evernham engines this season.
Bliss joined the team late last season and in seven attempted starts qualified on time for six races (the team is outside the top 35 in owner points and the guaranteed starting position that comes with that). Bliss recorded an average finish of 32.8.
"I welcome the opportunity to build upon the success we achieved as a team at the end of last season," Bliss said. "I am looking forward to competing full-time in the Nextel Cup Series again and have high expectations for both myself and the BAM Racing organization."
The team is moving from Arrington to Evernham engines for the season.
McCall joins the team after working with Chip Ganassi Racing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leaving the Depot
By Jerry Bonkowski, Yahoo! Sports
When Tony Stewart was placed on unprecedented double probation by both NASCAR and primary sponsor Home Depot in 2002, one of the first things he did was thank the home building supply giant and its chairman and CEO, Bob Nardelli, for their support and for not getting rid of him.
Since then, Stewart has gone on to win two championships in his No. 20 Home Depot-sponsored Chevrolet and become close friends with Nardelli.
But Stewart no longer will be calling his friend "boss," as Nardelli abruptly resigned Wednesday after six years as Home Depot's chief executive.
On the surface, the move should have very little impact upon Stewart, Joe Gibbs Racing or the No. 20 team. Not only is Home Depot in the midst of a long-term deal with JGR for at least three more years, but Stewart also has become the biggest and most successful pitchman for the chain's 2,127 stores and 355,000 employees.
Given the prestige Stewart has brought to the company, Home Depot would be foolish to cut ties with Stewart, Gibbs, et al. If anything, the company needs Stewart and JGR now more than ever in this transition period.
Speaking of transition, another plus for the Stewart-Home Depot relationship is that new chairman/CEO Frank Blake is almost as big a NASCAR fan as Nardelli.
If anything, Nardelli's departure may serve to further inspire Stewart and the rest of the No. 20 team as they try to bounce back from their disappointing 11th-place finish in 2006, particularly as they chase defending champion Jimmie Johnson in a car sponsored by Home Depot's chief rival, Lowe's Home Improvement.
Who knows, maybe Nardelli whom Stewart has praised in recent seasons could wind up with Joe Gibbs Racing. Team president J.D. Gibbs certainly could use some help with the massive load of running three Cup teams.
Regardless of Nardelli's future, don't expect to see Ray's Corner BBQ Shack replace Home Depot anytime soon on Stewart's ride. Even with Nardelli gone, Home Depot is much better with Stewart than without him.
Just like back in 2002.
Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski is Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR columnist.
by Steve Waid
I've noticed that some motorsports writers and pundits have already made a few predictions about the outcome of the 2007 Nextel Cup season.
Many have told us which drivers they think will make the Chase. Some of the bolder prognosticators have even selected the champion.
Seems to me these folks are jumping the gun a little bit. Heck, it's only the third day of the new year. It might be a good idea to wait a bit at the very least, gather some evidence (however little) from testing, which begins next week.
Honestly, though, the strength of the anticipation of each coming season compels many of us to opine over just what might happen. It's only natural. And frankly, it's fun.
Prediction is, of course, never an exact science and I don't care how many facts, figures and data are employed. Even the so-called "experts" can end up being way off.
Take professional football, for example. Many NFL pundits predicted the Carolina Panthers would go to the Super Bowl in 2006 and some declared they would win it.
Turns out the Panthers wound up 8-8 and didn't even make the playoffs. I can name at least one season ticket holder who was thoroughly disgusted.
I've always felt that racing was perhaps the most unpredictable of sports, given what can happen at any time or on any lap. And in 2007, issues such as the coming of Toyota and the car of tomorrow make prognostication that much more difficult. So it follows that to predict a champion, especially now, might seem futile.
But we do it anyway. The urge seems too strong to resist.
As I said, it's fun. The reason writers, broadcasters and bloggers make predictions is or should be because it is equally entertaining as it is informative.
It won't be long before you'll be able to check out the staff's predictions in the pages of NASCAR Scene and NASCAR Illustrated. Hey, take them for what you think they're worth.
Last year, ahem, I did predict that Jimmie Johnson would win the championship.
OK, I got lucky.
This year, make your own call as I'm sure you will. It could be your turn to get lucky.
By Jerry Bonkowski, Yahoo! Sports
When Tony Stewart was placed on unprecedented double probation by both NASCAR and primary sponsor Home Depot in 2002, one of the first things he did was thank the home building supply giant and its chairman and CEO, Bob Nardelli, for their support and for not getting rid of him.
Since then, Stewart has gone on to win two championships in his No. 20 Home Depot-sponsored Chevrolet and become close friends with Nardelli.
But Stewart no longer will be calling his friend "boss," as Nardelli abruptly resigned Wednesday after six years as Home Depot's chief executive.
On the surface, the move should have very little impact upon Stewart, Joe Gibbs Racing or the No. 20 team. Not only is Home Depot in the midst of a long-term deal with JGR for at least three more years, but Stewart also has become the biggest and most successful pitchman for the chain's 2,127 stores and 355,000 employees.
Given the prestige Stewart has brought to the company, Home Depot would be foolish to cut ties with Stewart, Gibbs, et al. If anything, the company needs Stewart and JGR now more than ever in this transition period.
Speaking of transition, another plus for the Stewart-Home Depot relationship is that new chairman/CEO Frank Blake is almost as big a NASCAR fan as Nardelli.
If anything, Nardelli's departure may serve to further inspire Stewart and the rest of the No. 20 team as they try to bounce back from their disappointing 11th-place finish in 2006, particularly as they chase defending champion Jimmie Johnson in a car sponsored by Home Depot's chief rival, Lowe's Home Improvement.
Who knows, maybe Nardelli whom Stewart has praised in recent seasons could wind up with Joe Gibbs Racing. Team president J.D. Gibbs certainly could use some help with the massive load of running three Cup teams.
Regardless of Nardelli's future, don't expect to see Ray's Corner BBQ Shack replace Home Depot anytime soon on Stewart's ride. Even with Nardelli gone, Home Depot is much better with Stewart than without him.
Just like back in 2002.
Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski is Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR columnist.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time for predictionsby Steve Waid
I've noticed that some motorsports writers and pundits have already made a few predictions about the outcome of the 2007 Nextel Cup season.
Many have told us which drivers they think will make the Chase. Some of the bolder prognosticators have even selected the champion.
Seems to me these folks are jumping the gun a little bit. Heck, it's only the third day of the new year. It might be a good idea to wait a bit at the very least, gather some evidence (however little) from testing, which begins next week.
Honestly, though, the strength of the anticipation of each coming season compels many of us to opine over just what might happen. It's only natural. And frankly, it's fun.
Prediction is, of course, never an exact science and I don't care how many facts, figures and data are employed. Even the so-called "experts" can end up being way off.
Take professional football, for example. Many NFL pundits predicted the Carolina Panthers would go to the Super Bowl in 2006 and some declared they would win it.
Turns out the Panthers wound up 8-8 and didn't even make the playoffs. I can name at least one season ticket holder who was thoroughly disgusted.
I've always felt that racing was perhaps the most unpredictable of sports, given what can happen at any time or on any lap. And in 2007, issues such as the coming of Toyota and the car of tomorrow make prognostication that much more difficult. So it follows that to predict a champion, especially now, might seem futile.
But we do it anyway. The urge seems too strong to resist.
As I said, it's fun. The reason writers, broadcasters and bloggers make predictions is or should be because it is equally entertaining as it is informative.
It won't be long before you'll be able to check out the staff's predictions in the pages of NASCAR Scene and NASCAR Illustrated. Hey, take them for what you think they're worth.
Last year, ahem, I did predict that Jimmie Johnson would win the championship.
OK, I got lucky.
This year, make your own call as I'm sure you will. It could be your turn to get lucky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NASCAR's MassCar?
Fans show plenty in name suggestions for Cup car to debut in '07
DAVID POOLE/dpoole@...
The Dodo, because it has wings but won't fly.
The Quickbrick. Boomerang. 21 Cent -- like 50 Cent, but for the 21st century.
Last week, I asked fans to suggest nicknames for the "car of tomorrow," since it won't be that once it has been on the track.
My suggestion was Zipper, because the chassis is being measured on XYZ coordinates in NASCAR's inspection process. I still kind of like it, but I did get a lot of pretty good suggestions.
Like Edsel. About 50 times. NASCAR has a lot of work to do in selling this concept to fans. It knows that, but if there's any doubt all its officials would have to do is read my e-mail over the past week.
A lot of responses I got, frankly, were unprintable. Others came close. One fan offered this progression: C = Cutter; CC = Cookie Cutter; CCC = Cookie Cutter Crap; CCCC = Complete Cookie Cutter Crap.
Albatross? Formula Zero?
I got Slot Car, Box Car, Block Car, UniCar and -- because the cars supposedly will be more and more alike -- MassCar. I actually kind of like MassCar.
I also like Ditto and, for a reason I am not sure I can articulate, the FoxyMoron.
Someone suggested the RS, standing for Retro Shoebox. Another person suggested NAS-car, with NAS standing for Not A Stock-car.
Autodrone and Autoclone came in, as did several variations on "clone." There were several variations on "aero," as in aerodynamics, and when you think about it Arrow would not be bad name for the car.
You have to appreciate the amount of thought that went into some suggestions.
Take, for example, the person who said the car should be called Lassie or Rin Tin Tin. "Both pooches showed up to save the show each and every week," the author said. "Just like NASCAR is trying to do." It was hard to be certain, but I'm pretty sure he was being facetious.
How about the Zaster (disaster)? Or the XYZ-car, which would be pronounced Zi-Car. My problem with that is somebody might decide that should be pronounced Shu-SHEF-Ski and we don't need that.
There was the Spruce Goose, the Axis and the Ugly Duckling. One fan gave me names for all four car makes -- the Ford Fiasco, the Chevrolet Chaos, the Dodge Disaster and the Toyota Turmoil.
Then, there were some that were just silly. Robbing Hood? Extended Warren T.? The Bumper Thumper? Booty Haul?
Keep `em coming.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Fans show plenty in name suggestions for Cup car to debut in '07
DAVID POOLE/dpoole@...
The Dodo, because it has wings but won't fly.
The Quickbrick. Boomerang. 21 Cent -- like 50 Cent, but for the 21st century.
Last week, I asked fans to suggest nicknames for the "car of tomorrow," since it won't be that once it has been on the track.
My suggestion was Zipper, because the chassis is being measured on XYZ coordinates in NASCAR's inspection process. I still kind of like it, but I did get a lot of pretty good suggestions.
Like Edsel. About 50 times. NASCAR has a lot of work to do in selling this concept to fans. It knows that, but if there's any doubt all its officials would have to do is read my e-mail over the past week.
A lot of responses I got, frankly, were unprintable. Others came close. One fan offered this progression: C = Cutter; CC = Cookie Cutter; CCC = Cookie Cutter Crap; CCCC = Complete Cookie Cutter Crap.
Albatross? Formula Zero?
I got Slot Car, Box Car, Block Car, UniCar and -- because the cars supposedly will be more and more alike -- MassCar. I actually kind of like MassCar.
I also like Ditto and, for a reason I am not sure I can articulate, the FoxyMoron.
Someone suggested the RS, standing for Retro Shoebox. Another person suggested NAS-car, with NAS standing for Not A Stock-car.
Autodrone and Autoclone came in, as did several variations on "clone." There were several variations on "aero," as in aerodynamics, and when you think about it Arrow would not be bad name for the car.
You have to appreciate the amount of thought that went into some suggestions.
Take, for example, the person who said the car should be called Lassie or Rin Tin Tin. "Both pooches showed up to save the show each and every week," the author said. "Just like NASCAR is trying to do." It was hard to be certain, but I'm pretty sure he was being facetious.
How about the Zaster (disaster)? Or the XYZ-car, which would be pronounced Zi-Car. My problem with that is somebody might decide that should be pronounced Shu-SHEF-Ski and we don't need that.
There was the Spruce Goose, the Axis and the Ugly Duckling. One fan gave me names for all four car makes -- the Ford Fiasco, the Chevrolet Chaos, the Dodge Disaster and the Toyota Turmoil.
Then, there were some that were just silly. Robbing Hood? Extended Warren T.? The Bumper Thumper? Booty Haul?
Keep `em coming.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Roush shakeups could net results
Terry Blount/ESPN
If you charted Roush Racing on a graph, the black line took a sharp downward turn in 2006. The question now is what happens this year? Will things continue to decline in 2007 or will Jack Roush's boys make a climb back to the top?
Roush drivers claimed back-to-back Nextel Cup crowns in 2003 and 2004 after years of frustration in coming close but failing to win the title. Matt Kenseth was the last winner in the old points system and Kurt Busch was the first Chase winner.
Roush didn't get a third title in 2005, but all five Roush drivers made it to the 10-driver Chase. Roush teammates Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards finished only 35 points behind Cup champion Tony Stewart.
Things looked rosy heading into 2006, but the Roush quintet couldn't keep up the success of the previous three seasons.
Kenseth and Mark Martin were the only Roush competitors to make the Chase. Kenseth finished second to Jimmie Johnson, so by most teams' standards, it was a strong season.
Most teams aren't Roush Racing. When asked about the status of the organization late last season, Kenseth described it as "a mess."
Kenseth might have overstated the problems a bit, but Roush wasn't pleased with the overall performance of his operation.
One of the problems was that Roush Racing and Ford were a little off most of last season on the aero package. That could change dramatically this year with the Car of Tomorrow being used in almost half the Cup events.
But technical issues weren't the only reason for Roush's backslide. Decision-making also played a part.
Roush panicked early last season when things weren't going well for Edwards and Jamie McMurray, who replaced Busch. Roush changed crew chiefs for both teams, moves that didn't work for either driver.
But the biggest disappointment probably was Biffle. He won five times in 2005 and would have won the title if not for a loose lug nut at Texas two weeks before the end of the season. Biffle had one victory heading to the final event last season, but closed on a high note with a Ford 400 victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It wasn't enough to save the job of crew chief Doug Richert. That decision was made a week earlier.
Roush has stirred the pot for '07. Pat Tryson, who spent the last three seasons with Martin in the No. 6 Ford, takes over for Richert. Roush also reversed his 2006 decision on Bob Osborne, moving him back to his crew chief role with Edwards.
It's all about finding the right chemistry between driver and crew chief. If it works, Roush has three drivers capable of winning the championship -- Kenseth, Biffle and Edwards.
Roush has a rebuilding program with rookie David Ragan replacing Martin, and McMurray still has to prove he can compete consistently with the top drivers in Cup.
If Edwards and Biffle return to their 2005 form, and Kenseth continues as one of the most consistent drivers in NASCAR, Roush Racing has a good chance to win a third championship in 2007.
If Edwards and Biffle race in 2006 mode, or Ford's version of the COT isn't up to par, Roush could have five cars outside looking in come November.
Roush is too smart for that. It's too big an organization with too much talent to have the graph continue to point south.
Terry Blount/ESPN
If you charted Roush Racing on a graph, the black line took a sharp downward turn in 2006. The question now is what happens this year? Will things continue to decline in 2007 or will Jack Roush's boys make a climb back to the top?
Roush drivers claimed back-to-back Nextel Cup crowns in 2003 and 2004 after years of frustration in coming close but failing to win the title. Matt Kenseth was the last winner in the old points system and Kurt Busch was the first Chase winner.
Roush didn't get a third title in 2005, but all five Roush drivers made it to the 10-driver Chase. Roush teammates Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards finished only 35 points behind Cup champion Tony Stewart.
Things looked rosy heading into 2006, but the Roush quintet couldn't keep up the success of the previous three seasons.
Kenseth and Mark Martin were the only Roush competitors to make the Chase. Kenseth finished second to Jimmie Johnson, so by most teams' standards, it was a strong season.
Most teams aren't Roush Racing. When asked about the status of the organization late last season, Kenseth described it as "a mess."
Kenseth might have overstated the problems a bit, but Roush wasn't pleased with the overall performance of his operation.
One of the problems was that Roush Racing and Ford were a little off most of last season on the aero package. That could change dramatically this year with the Car of Tomorrow being used in almost half the Cup events.
But technical issues weren't the only reason for Roush's backslide. Decision-making also played a part.
Roush panicked early last season when things weren't going well for Edwards and Jamie McMurray, who replaced Busch. Roush changed crew chiefs for both teams, moves that didn't work for either driver.
But the biggest disappointment probably was Biffle. He won five times in 2005 and would have won the title if not for a loose lug nut at Texas two weeks before the end of the season. Biffle had one victory heading to the final event last season, but closed on a high note with a Ford 400 victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It wasn't enough to save the job of crew chief Doug Richert. That decision was made a week earlier.
Roush has stirred the pot for '07. Pat Tryson, who spent the last three seasons with Martin in the No. 6 Ford, takes over for Richert. Roush also reversed his 2006 decision on Bob Osborne, moving him back to his crew chief role with Edwards.
It's all about finding the right chemistry between driver and crew chief. If it works, Roush has three drivers capable of winning the championship -- Kenseth, Biffle and Edwards.
Roush has a rebuilding program with rookie David Ragan replacing Martin, and McMurray still has to prove he can compete consistently with the top drivers in Cup.
If Edwards and Biffle return to their 2005 form, and Kenseth continues as one of the most consistent drivers in NASCAR, Roush Racing has a good chance to win a third championship in 2007.
If Edwards and Biffle race in 2006 mode, or Ford's version of the COT isn't up to par, Roush could have five cars outside looking in come November.
Roush is too smart for that. It's too big an organization with too much talent to have the graph continue to point south.
A New Year and a Little Bit of History...
By- Steve Herbert / InsideThePitBox.com!!
Well, 2006 is behind us now and we have 2007 to look forward to. ' 07 has a lot of new things in the wind. Toyotas in the Nextel Cup Series, Dale Jarrett in a Toyota (hard to believe, ain't it) Red Bull coming into the Cup series strong with 2 entries. We have Napa in a Toyota, Jeremey Mayfield coming back to Cup this year along with Ricky Rudd. It should be an interesting year.
Now a little bit of history for the fans and drivers.The famous "Brickyard" was not intended as a race track by the Indianapolis busisnessmen that built it. It was to be a "great outdoor laboratory", with it's 2 1/2 mile speedway of red bricks.In 1911, the first race took 6 hrs and 42 minutes to go 500 miles on it. The drivers had to contend with such hazards as wind, dust, and flying pebbles since most of the cars lacked windshields. The winning speed at that race was 74.6 mph. We drive our cars faster than that on the interstates now a days.
Engineers from the Detroit automakers considered 500 miles on the brickyard to be 50,000 miles of highway driving. They tested tires, shocks, suspension, brakes, seatbelts, high compression engines, fuel injection, and even turbo chargers there.
One invention they invented out of need there in 1911 was the rear view mirror. In the first race, an engineer sat in the passenger seat to be a lookout for cars behind the driver. Driver Ray Harroun came up with the idea of a mirror and installed one on his Marmon Wasp. Without the weight of an extra man, his car needed fewer tire changes than others-pushing him past faster competitors to victory.
Then there is the All American Soap Box Derby in Dayton , Ohio. Started in 1933 with 3 kids going down a hill in cars they had built from crates and scrap metal. A news photographer from the Dayton Daily News saw them and convinced his boss to put $200.00 in prize money. When it was held in August that year, over 40,000 people showed up to watch 362 boys race their cars down a hill. With the race becoming so popular a special track was built in nearby Akron, Ohio and awards were presented by such stars as Roy Rogers, Pat Boone and Jimmy Stewart.
Yet the race somehow remained a boys real life adventure story: a test of true ingenuity and grit. There was 14 year old Gib Klecan, for instance, who coated himself and his entire rig with graphite to cut down on wind resistance, and won in 1946. In 1952 little Joey Lunn from Georgia crashed his car in the first heat-but emerged from the first aid tent to ride his "ramblin wreck" downhill to victory.
In 1971 the race was opened to girls. Each year all the racers parade down Akron's Main St with an official Police escort and every racer is addressed to as "Champ". And the Derby is an "Official Youth Initiative of NASCAR"
So lets tell 2007 to "Bring it on" . We are ready for a new season! The Bud Shootout and ARCA 200 are on Feb. 10,2007. The ARCA race should be a great one this year, Frank Kimmell, 8 time Champion, will be starting on his quest for #9, Bobby Gerhart will be chasing Frank again, you can bet Bobby will win the Daytona opener (he always does, he's that good!), 2 Toyota entries so far, a few R & D entries from the Cup side, proably Juan Montoya driving a Ganassi prepared car to get some seat time before trying to race into the 500 thru the Gatorade 150 duels. You have the ARCAville regulars such as Norm Benning, Mike Koch, Billy Venturini and Mike Harmon who should give us an interesting race. These teams come to Daytona with a volunteer crew who want to be there. These are the true grass roots racers. It is great to see the determination in these teams. Good Luck to all.
Steve Herbert
Pres.
Bushwacker Motorsports, Inc.
By- Steve Herbert / InsideThePitBox.com!!
Well, 2006 is behind us now and we have 2007 to look forward to. ' 07 has a lot of new things in the wind. Toyotas in the Nextel Cup Series, Dale Jarrett in a Toyota (hard to believe, ain't it) Red Bull coming into the Cup series strong with 2 entries. We have Napa in a Toyota, Jeremey Mayfield coming back to Cup this year along with Ricky Rudd. It should be an interesting year.
Now a little bit of history for the fans and drivers.The famous "Brickyard" was not intended as a race track by the Indianapolis busisnessmen that built it. It was to be a "great outdoor laboratory", with it's 2 1/2 mile speedway of red bricks.In 1911, the first race took 6 hrs and 42 minutes to go 500 miles on it. The drivers had to contend with such hazards as wind, dust, and flying pebbles since most of the cars lacked windshields. The winning speed at that race was 74.6 mph. We drive our cars faster than that on the interstates now a days.
Engineers from the Detroit automakers considered 500 miles on the brickyard to be 50,000 miles of highway driving. They tested tires, shocks, suspension, brakes, seatbelts, high compression engines, fuel injection, and even turbo chargers there.
One invention they invented out of need there in 1911 was the rear view mirror. In the first race, an engineer sat in the passenger seat to be a lookout for cars behind the driver. Driver Ray Harroun came up with the idea of a mirror and installed one on his Marmon Wasp. Without the weight of an extra man, his car needed fewer tire changes than others-pushing him past faster competitors to victory.
Then there is the All American Soap Box Derby in Dayton , Ohio. Started in 1933 with 3 kids going down a hill in cars they had built from crates and scrap metal. A news photographer from the Dayton Daily News saw them and convinced his boss to put $200.00 in prize money. When it was held in August that year, over 40,000 people showed up to watch 362 boys race their cars down a hill. With the race becoming so popular a special track was built in nearby Akron, Ohio and awards were presented by such stars as Roy Rogers, Pat Boone and Jimmy Stewart.
Yet the race somehow remained a boys real life adventure story: a test of true ingenuity and grit. There was 14 year old Gib Klecan, for instance, who coated himself and his entire rig with graphite to cut down on wind resistance, and won in 1946. In 1952 little Joey Lunn from Georgia crashed his car in the first heat-but emerged from the first aid tent to ride his "ramblin wreck" downhill to victory.
In 1971 the race was opened to girls. Each year all the racers parade down Akron's Main St with an official Police escort and every racer is addressed to as "Champ". And the Derby is an "Official Youth Initiative of NASCAR"
So lets tell 2007 to "Bring it on" . We are ready for a new season! The Bud Shootout and ARCA 200 are on Feb. 10,2007. The ARCA race should be a great one this year, Frank Kimmell, 8 time Champion, will be starting on his quest for #9, Bobby Gerhart will be chasing Frank again, you can bet Bobby will win the Daytona opener (he always does, he's that good!), 2 Toyota entries so far, a few R & D entries from the Cup side, proably Juan Montoya driving a Ganassi prepared car to get some seat time before trying to race into the 500 thru the Gatorade 150 duels. You have the ARCAville regulars such as Norm Benning, Mike Koch, Billy Venturini and Mike Harmon who should give us an interesting race. These teams come to Daytona with a volunteer crew who want to be there. These are the true grass roots racers. It is great to see the determination in these teams. Good Luck to all.
Steve Herbert
Pres.
Bushwacker Motorsports, Inc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Top Five NASCAR Nextel Cup Scuffles of 2006
By Rebecca Gladden / Insider Racing News
Originally, I had intended to call this piece, "Top Five NASCAR Nextel Cup Feuds of 2006."
But in retrospect, none of the incidents really rises to the level of an all-out feud. In this era of the more politically correct NASCAR, drivers are encouraged to settle disputes as quickly as possible rather than allowing them to escalate to the level of a full-scale feud.
Still, emotions run high when big bucks and bragging rights are on the line, leading to some of the more memorable moments - and quotable quotes - of the past season.
Remember these?
5. Carl Edwards vs. Tony Stewart - Pocono, July 23
Although it was Clint Bowyer whom Stewart hit first on Lap 31 of the Pennsylvania tri-oval, Edwards - an innocent victim of the incident - was the most outspoken about Stewart's driving tactics. Edwards subsequently spun Stewart on pit road under caution, and both he and Stewart were penalized a lap for aggressive driving. Edwards finished the race in 39th place and cited the incident as one of the main reasons his team missed the Chase, while Stewart finished 7th and Bowyer 41st. The bickering continued weeks later when Edwards labeled Stewart a moron and Tony nicknamed Carl, "the Eddie Haskell of NASCAR."
Carl Edwards: "Man, I've got to choose my words carefully. Let me just say this. If it weren't for respect of the sport and the people watching and this team and everything, he'd be out there bleeding right now. That's so frustrating. How can a person make it this far in life being that much of a jerk? He turned into Clint and took both him and I out, and probably made it just about impossible for us to make the Chase. And then when I pull up beside him and wave my hand like, 'what was that about?' he gives me the finger. I mean, what a jerk. I don't even know what to say. It's amazing to me that someone can be that special. I want to like Tony. He's a hard racer and all that, but how can you like somebody like that? It's just amazing. If you hold that guy up, like if he thinks you held him up, he gets so upset and then he can wreck two guys and give you the finger. That's spectacularly self-centered. I can't imagine being like that."
Tony Stewart: "If the 3 car was here, I don't think we would have the same problems in this series as we have. He always had a way of letting drivers know where they stood and when to move and when not to move. It's just the first-year and second-year drivers that don't understand that there needs to be a little give and take. There is only a handful of guys that don't get it, but the problem is they are in good racecars and they don't run up front enough to learn from the rest of us how to race up front. Ask some veterans and ask the guys that I run up front with every week. I think I'm a pretty fair driver to those guys. If I'm wrong on that, I'll quit. I'll give you my hard card and retire tomorrow. But I'm pretty sure that those guys are going to say I race pretty fair 99 out of 100 times."
4. Brian Vickers vs. Jimmie Johnson - Talladega, October 23
It's never good when one teammate wrecks another on the last lap of a race, especially when the victim is vying for a championship. But that was indeed the scenario at the fall race in Talladega where Vickers, desperate for his first Cup victory, spun teammate Jimmie Johnson and another Chase competitor, Dale Earnhardt Jr., on the final lap. Ironically, Vickers, who had already announced his intention to leave Hendrick Motor Sports at the end of the 2006 season, had complained that he was being snubbed as a teammate at HMS.
Brian Vickers: "If I would have not touched him and laid off of him, we would have finished one, two, three - Junior, Jimmie and me. I apologize. That is the last thing I want to do is to get into Jimmie. But when the 8 chopped him and Jimmie swerved, I just got him. The last thing I wanted to do was wreck either one of those guys, but what happened, happened. It wasn't intentional. It's definitely mixed emotions for me, being my first win but also what happened with Jimmie, because he is my friend and also a teammate as well."
Jimmie Johnson: "The only way to win was to crash us both. Knowing the situation we're all in, I would hope that someone would be a little more patient than they were back there. I know he was trying to get his first win, but he was in a position to finish second or third the way that was, and he gave me a push from behind and pushed me into (Earnhardt) and off we went ... It's absolutely uncalled for, completely out of line. I'm racing for a championship, okay?"
3. Jeff Gordon vs. Matt Kenseth (Part 2) - Chicago, July 9
Ding, ding! It was Round Two in the 2006 Gordon vs. Kenseth middleweight match (see No. 1 below for the first round), as Gordon punted Kenseth with four laps to go in Chicago. Gordon won the race while Kenseth, who was convinced that the hit was retaliation for Bristol, finished 22nd.
Jeff Gordon: "He can say whatever about payback. I'm not going to question it because whether it is or whether it isn't, it's not even an issue anymore. What happened at Bristol, it happened, just like what happened here. It's a non-issue. It's racing. I got the bad end of it at Bristol. He got the bad end of it (here). There's nothing to talk about. I look forward to racing Matt Kenseth hard and clean. I hope the same goes for him."
Matt Kenseth: "I think that anybody, honestly, that's watched more than two or three races in their lives and watched the replay knows that he meant to spin me out. My car was pushing so bad that you had to hit it pretty hard to spin it out. The weird thing is that he would have passed me the next lap anyway - he was catching me so fast. You can clearly see when I got in the corner we both got out of the gas, and he just picked up the gas a car length or so earlier and drove me over. I think it was intentional, but it doesn't really matter what I think."
2. Matt Kenseth vs. Tony Stewart - Daytona, February 19
In a clear case of "do as I say, not as I do," Tony Stewart sent Matt Kenseth flying through the infield grass on Lap 107 at Daytona, just a week after Stewart issued this dire warning regarding aggressive driving: "Five years from now, we're probably going to have to do another tribute to another driver, because we're probably going to kill somebody. It could be me. It could be Dale Junior, it could be anybody out there.'' Stewart was sent to the end of the longest line, but Kenseth was also penalized after a subsequent retaliatory bump on pit road. It was one of several on-track incidents involving Stewart that day.
Matt Kenseth: "Tony took me out intentionally. There's no two ways about it. He was mad because earlier in the race when I passed him he got loose - which I didn't think I did anything wrong; I thought I left him plenty of room. That's the same way he raced - I actually learned that from him racing here close to people. So he wrecked me intentionally and got put to the end of the longest line. I thought Mike Helton did a great job this week explaining it in the drivers meeting that it was about aggressive driving and not necessarily bump drafting. I'm just really disappointed. Tony went out and said all that stuff earlier in the week - if he's worried about people's lives and everything, and then he's going to wreck you on purpose at 190? I wasn't too happy about that."
Tony Stewart: "I got penalized, but they didn't penalize him for getting me sideways. He should have been smart enough to know not to be tucking down our doors in the first 20 laps of a 200-lap race at Daytona. He has no room to complain. He started the whole thing and I finished it.''
1. Jeff Gordon vs. Matt Kenseth (Part 1) - Bristol, March 26
It was the shove heard 'round the world. Matt Kenseth turned Jeff Gordon on the last lap of the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway, after Kenseth himself had been bumped by Kurt Busch a few laps earlier. Busch won the race with Kenseth third, while Gordon, who was running fourth at the time finished in 21st place finish. After the race, Kenseth approached Gordon on pit road, apparently to apologize for the contact. Gordon, who had just climbed from his machine and was still wearing his helmet, met Kenseth with a two-handed shove in the chest. The two were then separated by a race official, and Gordon was eventually fined $10,000 and placed on probation through August.
Jeff Gordon: "For years I was just so concerned with 'what was this person going to think and what was that person going to think,' and I was more caught up in that than I was in being true to myself. What you see today is a more truer Jeff Gordon and who I really am. I'm not a robot; I have a personality and I have emotions and I have a humorous side to me and an angry side to me. I feel like I'm a fairly normal person. I guess I understand why I did some of the things that I did coming into this sport. I felt like an outsider. I felt like I wasn't a guy that is your typical NASCAR driver at that time - a guy who grew up in stock cars or from the southeast - and I felt like I needed to do extra things to be accepted. Some fans did and some fans didn't, but more of it was about being accepted within the garage area and earning respect within the garage area, so I chose to go that path. Now that I've established myself and I'm older and understand life a little bit more, just really the way for me to enjoy life and enjoy racing more is to be me."
Matt Kenseth: "(Gordon) raced hard all day long and he worked for his third-place finish, and he got it unfairly taken away from him in the last corner and finished 20th or whatever. I would have been ticked off, too. I probably should have known better than to go over there, but I just think that when you do something wrong you should try to be a man about it and go apologize - even though I knew that wasn't going to do any good. That wasn't going to bring his finish back, so I should have probably known better than to go over there to start with."
Rather whets the appetite for 2007, doesn't it?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~By Rebecca Gladden / Insider Racing News
Originally, I had intended to call this piece, "Top Five NASCAR Nextel Cup Feuds of 2006."
But in retrospect, none of the incidents really rises to the level of an all-out feud. In this era of the more politically correct NASCAR, drivers are encouraged to settle disputes as quickly as possible rather than allowing them to escalate to the level of a full-scale feud.
Still, emotions run high when big bucks and bragging rights are on the line, leading to some of the more memorable moments - and quotable quotes - of the past season.
Remember these?
5. Carl Edwards vs. Tony Stewart - Pocono, July 23
Although it was Clint Bowyer whom Stewart hit first on Lap 31 of the Pennsylvania tri-oval, Edwards - an innocent victim of the incident - was the most outspoken about Stewart's driving tactics. Edwards subsequently spun Stewart on pit road under caution, and both he and Stewart were penalized a lap for aggressive driving. Edwards finished the race in 39th place and cited the incident as one of the main reasons his team missed the Chase, while Stewart finished 7th and Bowyer 41st. The bickering continued weeks later when Edwards labeled Stewart a moron and Tony nicknamed Carl, "the Eddie Haskell of NASCAR."
Carl Edwards: "Man, I've got to choose my words carefully. Let me just say this. If it weren't for respect of the sport and the people watching and this team and everything, he'd be out there bleeding right now. That's so frustrating. How can a person make it this far in life being that much of a jerk? He turned into Clint and took both him and I out, and probably made it just about impossible for us to make the Chase. And then when I pull up beside him and wave my hand like, 'what was that about?' he gives me the finger. I mean, what a jerk. I don't even know what to say. It's amazing to me that someone can be that special. I want to like Tony. He's a hard racer and all that, but how can you like somebody like that? It's just amazing. If you hold that guy up, like if he thinks you held him up, he gets so upset and then he can wreck two guys and give you the finger. That's spectacularly self-centered. I can't imagine being like that."
Tony Stewart: "If the 3 car was here, I don't think we would have the same problems in this series as we have. He always had a way of letting drivers know where they stood and when to move and when not to move. It's just the first-year and second-year drivers that don't understand that there needs to be a little give and take. There is only a handful of guys that don't get it, but the problem is they are in good racecars and they don't run up front enough to learn from the rest of us how to race up front. Ask some veterans and ask the guys that I run up front with every week. I think I'm a pretty fair driver to those guys. If I'm wrong on that, I'll quit. I'll give you my hard card and retire tomorrow. But I'm pretty sure that those guys are going to say I race pretty fair 99 out of 100 times."
4. Brian Vickers vs. Jimmie Johnson - Talladega, October 23
It's never good when one teammate wrecks another on the last lap of a race, especially when the victim is vying for a championship. But that was indeed the scenario at the fall race in Talladega where Vickers, desperate for his first Cup victory, spun teammate Jimmie Johnson and another Chase competitor, Dale Earnhardt Jr., on the final lap. Ironically, Vickers, who had already announced his intention to leave Hendrick Motor Sports at the end of the 2006 season, had complained that he was being snubbed as a teammate at HMS.
Brian Vickers: "If I would have not touched him and laid off of him, we would have finished one, two, three - Junior, Jimmie and me. I apologize. That is the last thing I want to do is to get into Jimmie. But when the 8 chopped him and Jimmie swerved, I just got him. The last thing I wanted to do was wreck either one of those guys, but what happened, happened. It wasn't intentional. It's definitely mixed emotions for me, being my first win but also what happened with Jimmie, because he is my friend and also a teammate as well."
Jimmie Johnson: "The only way to win was to crash us both. Knowing the situation we're all in, I would hope that someone would be a little more patient than they were back there. I know he was trying to get his first win, but he was in a position to finish second or third the way that was, and he gave me a push from behind and pushed me into (Earnhardt) and off we went ... It's absolutely uncalled for, completely out of line. I'm racing for a championship, okay?"
3. Jeff Gordon vs. Matt Kenseth (Part 2) - Chicago, July 9
Ding, ding! It was Round Two in the 2006 Gordon vs. Kenseth middleweight match (see No. 1 below for the first round), as Gordon punted Kenseth with four laps to go in Chicago. Gordon won the race while Kenseth, who was convinced that the hit was retaliation for Bristol, finished 22nd.
Jeff Gordon: "He can say whatever about payback. I'm not going to question it because whether it is or whether it isn't, it's not even an issue anymore. What happened at Bristol, it happened, just like what happened here. It's a non-issue. It's racing. I got the bad end of it at Bristol. He got the bad end of it (here). There's nothing to talk about. I look forward to racing Matt Kenseth hard and clean. I hope the same goes for him."
Matt Kenseth: "I think that anybody, honestly, that's watched more than two or three races in their lives and watched the replay knows that he meant to spin me out. My car was pushing so bad that you had to hit it pretty hard to spin it out. The weird thing is that he would have passed me the next lap anyway - he was catching me so fast. You can clearly see when I got in the corner we both got out of the gas, and he just picked up the gas a car length or so earlier and drove me over. I think it was intentional, but it doesn't really matter what I think."
2. Matt Kenseth vs. Tony Stewart - Daytona, February 19
In a clear case of "do as I say, not as I do," Tony Stewart sent Matt Kenseth flying through the infield grass on Lap 107 at Daytona, just a week after Stewart issued this dire warning regarding aggressive driving: "Five years from now, we're probably going to have to do another tribute to another driver, because we're probably going to kill somebody. It could be me. It could be Dale Junior, it could be anybody out there.'' Stewart was sent to the end of the longest line, but Kenseth was also penalized after a subsequent retaliatory bump on pit road. It was one of several on-track incidents involving Stewart that day.
Matt Kenseth: "Tony took me out intentionally. There's no two ways about it. He was mad because earlier in the race when I passed him he got loose - which I didn't think I did anything wrong; I thought I left him plenty of room. That's the same way he raced - I actually learned that from him racing here close to people. So he wrecked me intentionally and got put to the end of the longest line. I thought Mike Helton did a great job this week explaining it in the drivers meeting that it was about aggressive driving and not necessarily bump drafting. I'm just really disappointed. Tony went out and said all that stuff earlier in the week - if he's worried about people's lives and everything, and then he's going to wreck you on purpose at 190? I wasn't too happy about that."
Tony Stewart: "I got penalized, but they didn't penalize him for getting me sideways. He should have been smart enough to know not to be tucking down our doors in the first 20 laps of a 200-lap race at Daytona. He has no room to complain. He started the whole thing and I finished it.''
1. Jeff Gordon vs. Matt Kenseth (Part 1) - Bristol, March 26
It was the shove heard 'round the world. Matt Kenseth turned Jeff Gordon on the last lap of the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway, after Kenseth himself had been bumped by Kurt Busch a few laps earlier. Busch won the race with Kenseth third, while Gordon, who was running fourth at the time finished in 21st place finish. After the race, Kenseth approached Gordon on pit road, apparently to apologize for the contact. Gordon, who had just climbed from his machine and was still wearing his helmet, met Kenseth with a two-handed shove in the chest. The two were then separated by a race official, and Gordon was eventually fined $10,000 and placed on probation through August.
Jeff Gordon: "For years I was just so concerned with 'what was this person going to think and what was that person going to think,' and I was more caught up in that than I was in being true to myself. What you see today is a more truer Jeff Gordon and who I really am. I'm not a robot; I have a personality and I have emotions and I have a humorous side to me and an angry side to me. I feel like I'm a fairly normal person. I guess I understand why I did some of the things that I did coming into this sport. I felt like an outsider. I felt like I wasn't a guy that is your typical NASCAR driver at that time - a guy who grew up in stock cars or from the southeast - and I felt like I needed to do extra things to be accepted. Some fans did and some fans didn't, but more of it was about being accepted within the garage area and earning respect within the garage area, so I chose to go that path. Now that I've established myself and I'm older and understand life a little bit more, just really the way for me to enjoy life and enjoy racing more is to be me."
Matt Kenseth: "(Gordon) raced hard all day long and he worked for his third-place finish, and he got it unfairly taken away from him in the last corner and finished 20th or whatever. I would have been ticked off, too. I probably should have known better than to go over there, but I just think that when you do something wrong you should try to be a man about it and go apologize - even though I knew that wasn't going to do any good. That wasn't going to bring his finish back, so I should have probably known better than to go over there to start with."
Rather whets the appetite for 2007, doesn't it?
Rudd's return to RYR surprising, wins won't be
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
December 24, 2006
Had YouTube existed way back in the fall of 2002, one of the best videos in its arsenal undoubtedly would have involved Ricky Rudd. Seriously.
Rudd has accomplished a lot in his long NASCAR career, but I still maintain that one his greatest achievements happened in Richmond in the fall of 2002. Rudd, all of 5 feet, 8 inches, hurled a water bottle at a member of his team, striking the man in the face.
It was a beautiful throw, something insanely well-executed under tremendous pressure. Because Rudd is not a tall man, he threw the bottle while leaping at his adversary. The man he struck required 12 stitches, and he was also fined $10,000 because he had provoked the attack on Rudd.
Did I mention that this was an inter-team fight? Rudd was gone from Robert Yates Racing only a few months later. It was not the most pleasant of divorces. It wasn't as bad as the Ernie Irvan-RYR split in 1996, but you get the idea.
"I think maybe the way we handled those disagreements, we might face them a little earlier instead of letting them fester like maybe we did last time -- bring them to the table," Rudd said. "Let's discuss them and that's something we probably didn't do a very good job of last time."
In short, not many people ever thought Rudd would ever be back driving for RYR, and yet it appears that he will have one final season in the sun.
That is a good thing, by the way. Anyone who steps into a RYR machine will have at least three very good chances to win races, because RYR's restrictor-plate motors are without peer in the garage right now. Welcome to the Bud Shootout, David Gilliland, and do not forget to thank engine builder Doug Yates on the way to driver introductions.
We all know that RYR has experienced two bad years in a row, and it is a stretch to think that Rudd, 50, has much of a chance to make the Chase. He does, however, have a legitimate shot at winning multiple races.
Here is why.
Besides the obvious chance to win any of the first three restrictor-plate races, Rudd is always going to be tough at the two road-course events.
But there's more.
Several drivers I have talked to are adamant that the incoming Car of Tomorrow, which debuts in 16 events this season, will ultimately produce some upsets. Whenever a new variable is introduced in NASCAR, whether it be a track, a manufacturer, whatever -- it increases the chance of unpredictability.
Rudd already has a lot of laps in the Car of Tomorrow -- he tested a Toyota COT with Wyler Racing, and Yates needs his expertise with the car. Rudd is one of the few drivers you will find that has nice things to say about the COT, and because Rudd is a phenomenal test driver, expect him to help close RYR's learning curve in the COT.
"We tested that Toyota down at Talladega several months ago and it was very stable," Rudd said. "It's just a little bit different animal. A lot of the things that used to work on cars, say a few years back, now you can kind of dig up some of the old notebooks and start applying some of that to it because the cars are different.
"They don't corner quite as good as the old cars, but yet everyone is going to be equal."
Rudd said that he considered running a part-time schedule for Yates, but part-time programs almost never work at the Nextel Cup level. That is what made Boris Said's limited schedule in 2006, when he scored two top-10s in four races, so impressive.
"There's a big difference between a part-time schedule versus a full-time schedule with Robert Yates Racing," Rudd said. "I think you have to be in the trenches week in and week out on a real regular basis."
Many details of Yates' future uncertain
During Thursday's announcement of the Rudd hiring, Yates and Rudd danced around questions as to how long Rudd will drive for the team, which means that a guaranteed two-year contract was not signed.
That gives Yates another year to find more financial backing if he needs because Masterfoods, which owns the M&M's brand, was also elusive when asked how long it would back two cars at the Nextel Cup level.
Interestingly, word had already filtered out that several longtime employees of Robert Yates Racing had already left to go to other teams. Yates himself confirmed that his employee count had shrunk from 150 to 125 people, but he also said that his payroll had already increased.
"I was just expecting mass exodus, but it turned out that we were able to retain the really key people and put more key people in place," Yates said. "So it really surprised me, but I think now we've taken an organization program that's very different than we had ... a lot more focus on the performance side and a lot less on the media side."
Rudd's number? Who knows?
There obviously has been talk that Yates will switch his second car from the No. 88 to the No. 28, which Yates ran from 1989 to 2003. Rudd's win at Sonoma in 2002 was the final victory for the No. 28, but Yates refused to dispel talk that the No. 28 might return.
Had Yates planned to run Daytona in the No. 88, I would think that he would have gone out and said it, but he didn't.
Daytona testing is just two weeks ahead, so we won't have to wait long for the confirmation.
The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.
By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COM
December 24, 2006
Had YouTube existed way back in the fall of 2002, one of the best videos in its arsenal undoubtedly would have involved Ricky Rudd. Seriously.
Rudd has accomplished a lot in his long NASCAR career, but I still maintain that one his greatest achievements happened in Richmond in the fall of 2002. Rudd, all of 5 feet, 8 inches, hurled a water bottle at a member of his team, striking the man in the face.
It was a beautiful throw, something insanely well-executed under tremendous pressure. Because Rudd is not a tall man, he threw the bottle while leaping at his adversary. The man he struck required 12 stitches, and he was also fined $10,000 because he had provoked the attack on Rudd.
Did I mention that this was an inter-team fight? Rudd was gone from Robert Yates Racing only a few months later. It was not the most pleasant of divorces. It wasn't as bad as the Ernie Irvan-RYR split in 1996, but you get the idea.
"I think maybe the way we handled those disagreements, we might face them a little earlier instead of letting them fester like maybe we did last time -- bring them to the table," Rudd said. "Let's discuss them and that's something we probably didn't do a very good job of last time."
In short, not many people ever thought Rudd would ever be back driving for RYR, and yet it appears that he will have one final season in the sun.
That is a good thing, by the way. Anyone who steps into a RYR machine will have at least three very good chances to win races, because RYR's restrictor-plate motors are without peer in the garage right now. Welcome to the Bud Shootout, David Gilliland, and do not forget to thank engine builder Doug Yates on the way to driver introductions.
We all know that RYR has experienced two bad years in a row, and it is a stretch to think that Rudd, 50, has much of a chance to make the Chase. He does, however, have a legitimate shot at winning multiple races.
Here is why.
Besides the obvious chance to win any of the first three restrictor-plate races, Rudd is always going to be tough at the two road-course events.
But there's more.
Several drivers I have talked to are adamant that the incoming Car of Tomorrow, which debuts in 16 events this season, will ultimately produce some upsets. Whenever a new variable is introduced in NASCAR, whether it be a track, a manufacturer, whatever -- it increases the chance of unpredictability.
Rudd already has a lot of laps in the Car of Tomorrow -- he tested a Toyota COT with Wyler Racing, and Yates needs his expertise with the car. Rudd is one of the few drivers you will find that has nice things to say about the COT, and because Rudd is a phenomenal test driver, expect him to help close RYR's learning curve in the COT.
"We tested that Toyota down at Talladega several months ago and it was very stable," Rudd said. "It's just a little bit different animal. A lot of the things that used to work on cars, say a few years back, now you can kind of dig up some of the old notebooks and start applying some of that to it because the cars are different.
"They don't corner quite as good as the old cars, but yet everyone is going to be equal."
Rudd said that he considered running a part-time schedule for Yates, but part-time programs almost never work at the Nextel Cup level. That is what made Boris Said's limited schedule in 2006, when he scored two top-10s in four races, so impressive.
"There's a big difference between a part-time schedule versus a full-time schedule with Robert Yates Racing," Rudd said. "I think you have to be in the trenches week in and week out on a real regular basis."
Many details of Yates' future uncertain
During Thursday's announcement of the Rudd hiring, Yates and Rudd danced around questions as to how long Rudd will drive for the team, which means that a guaranteed two-year contract was not signed.
That gives Yates another year to find more financial backing if he needs because Masterfoods, which owns the M&M's brand, was also elusive when asked how long it would back two cars at the Nextel Cup level.
Interestingly, word had already filtered out that several longtime employees of Robert Yates Racing had already left to go to other teams. Yates himself confirmed that his employee count had shrunk from 150 to 125 people, but he also said that his payroll had already increased.
"I was just expecting mass exodus, but it turned out that we were able to retain the really key people and put more key people in place," Yates said. "So it really surprised me, but I think now we've taken an organization program that's very different than we had ... a lot more focus on the performance side and a lot less on the media side."
Rudd's number? Who knows?
There obviously has been talk that Yates will switch his second car from the No. 88 to the No. 28, which Yates ran from 1989 to 2003. Rudd's win at Sonoma in 2002 was the final victory for the No. 28, but Yates refused to dispel talk that the No. 28 might return.
Had Yates planned to run Daytona in the No. 88, I would think that he would have gone out and said it, but he didn't.
Daytona testing is just two weeks ahead, so we won't have to wait long for the confirmation.
The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Championships have always driven me to win races. That 3 car pulling into the track would cause people to look around and wonder what we were doing, to see how to beat us."
-Dale Earnhardt
-Dale Earnhardt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, that's all for today. Until the next time, I remain,Your
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 wins't climb up there and eat that candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt 1998
"It's nothin' personal, it's just racin'
-Dale Earnhardt Sr.
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