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Quote of the Day
"I love what I do; I love this business."
-- Bobby Hamilton Sr, March 2006 as he announced he had cancer
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.
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Bits and Pieces
Delphi to announce NASCAR plans at open house in Vegas UPDATE: Delphi Corp. will host a media open house on Monday, Jan. 8 from 3 - 5 p.m. at its exhibit at the Las Vegas Convention Center (#Exhibit 5206). Jeff Owens, president of Delphi Electronics & Safety and Francisco (Frank) A. Ordonez, president, Delphi Products & Service Solutions, will host the reception. Also hosting is: NASCAR driver Kyle Busch. Kyle will be on hand to sign autographs and meet fans. Along with Kellogg's, Delphi was a major associate sponsor of the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy driven by Busch during the past NASCAR season. Delphi will announce its 2007 sponsorship at the open house. During the event, a host of Delphi subject matter experts will be available for interviews and to demonstrate the new technologies.(Yahoo Biz)(12-21-2006) UPDATE: Delphi Product & Service Solutions announced today at a media reception held at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nev., that it will continue its major associate sponsorship of Hendrick Motorsports during the 2007 NASCAR season. Nextel Cup Series driver Kyle Busch personally attended the reception to help kick-off yet another year with Delphi. An associate sponsor of all 2007 Hendrick Motorsports entries, Delphi will also be the primary sponsor of Busch's #5 Chevy in the Busch Series for five races. Delphi sponsored events in the Busch Series will include Las Vegas (March 10), Talladega (April 28), Daytona (July 6), Chicago (July 14), and Texas (Nov. 3). In addition, Delphi will receive preferred logo placement on both the #5 Chevy driven by Busch and the #25 Chevy of Casey Mears in select 2007 Nextel Cup Series races.(Yahoo Biz)
Delphi to announce NASCAR plans at open house in Vegas UPDATE: Delphi Corp. will host a media open house on Monday, Jan. 8 from 3 - 5 p.m. at its exhibit at the Las Vegas Convention Center (#Exhibit 5206). Jeff Owens, president of Delphi Electronics & Safety and Francisco (Frank) A. Ordonez, president, Delphi Products & Service Solutions, will host the reception. Also hosting is: NASCAR driver Kyle Busch. Kyle will be on hand to sign autographs and meet fans. Along with Kellogg's, Delphi was a major associate sponsor of the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy driven by Busch during the past NASCAR season. Delphi will announce its 2007 sponsorship at the open house. During the event, a host of Delphi subject matter experts will be available for interviews and to demonstrate the new technologies.(Yahoo Biz)(12-21-2006) UPDATE: Delphi Product & Service Solutions announced today at a media reception held at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nev., that it will continue its major associate sponsorship of Hendrick Motorsports during the 2007 NASCAR season. Nextel Cup Series driver Kyle Busch personally attended the reception to help kick-off yet another year with Delphi. An associate sponsor of all 2007 Hendrick Motorsports entries, Delphi will also be the primary sponsor of Busch's #5 Chevy in the Busch Series for five races. Delphi sponsored events in the Busch Series will include Las Vegas (March 10), Talladega (April 28), Daytona (July 6), Chicago (July 14), and Texas (Nov. 3). In addition, Delphi will receive preferred logo placement on both the #5 Chevy driven by Busch and the #25 Chevy of Casey Mears in select 2007 Nextel Cup Series races.(Yahoo Biz)
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Boris Said wins Bodine Bobsled Challenge: Road race ace Boris Said, whose late father, Bob, drove in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics for the U.S. bobsled team, overcame a whipping wind and pelting rain on Saturday and won both races in the Chevrolet Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge on the Olympic track at Mount Van Hoevenberg. "It was awesome, perfect," said Said, who also won the inaugural race of this unique event last year. "Two wins is a good way to start the year." The Bobsled Challenge features race car drivers on ice. It's an effort to raise funds to keep the U.S. men's and women's bobsled teams at the forefront of international racing.(Associated Press), see more at bodinebobsled.com
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RAINES, RAINS
Raines fastest as testing, rain begin
Tony Raines, driver of the No. 96 Chevrolet for Hall of Fame Racing, found his name atop the morning speed charts as testing got underway on Monday at Daytona International Speedway.
Raines posted a fast lap of 183.974 mph while 2006 Daytona 500 champion Jimmie Johnson was second fastest with a lap of 183.869. Rounding out the top five were Dave Blaney (183.756), Jamie McMurray (183.703) and Mike McLaughlin (183.700).
Rain forced the cancellation of the Monday afternoon session of testing. A half-day testing session has been added on Thursday.
Ricky Rudd returns: After taking a year off, Ricky Rudd is back in a full-ride in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.
Rudd took the entire 2006 season off with the exception of serving as a mid-race relief driver for Tony Stewart at Dover. He returns to Robert Yates Racing, the team he last drove for in 2002.
"It's pretty neat," said the 50-year-old Rudd. "I missed it. There's a lot of it I missed. Talk to me at the end of the year and I'll let you know the real story but right now I'm fresh and feel good and ready to go."
Rudd, whose lone Daytona International Speedway victory has come in the Gatorade Duel in 2000, will make his 29th start in the Daytona 500.
Rudd says comfortable with his role at Robert Yates Racing.
"The sponsors have been really good about working with me through some of the commitments that are required," Rudd said. "They're working with me a lot and being flexible on that. I feel like I'm kind of needed over here. They've got some work to do and I feel like I can contribute and make it a better race team."
Wrist not a problem: Jimmie Johnson, who broke his wrist in a golf-kart accident over the off-season, says that he isn't feeling any pain and the injury won't be a problem in his No. 48 Chevrolet
"My wrist is good," Johnson said. "I'm going to wear a splint in the car just to be smart and to be sure, but the cast is off and the hand is working and everything is good. The timing was perfect. I got the off-season to heal up and I'm ready for Daytona.
"It won't affect the 500. I'm going to be able to race in the 24 Hours of Daytona coming up here real soon and so it's just something that kind of slowed me down over the off-season. I had a cast on my hand and it kind of kept me on the sidelines watching my wife swim and being on vacation and watching my friends do all these fun things and I had to sit around and watch. But, beyond that, everything is good."
Super subs: Mike McLaughlin and P.J. Jones lending a helping hand during testing. McLaughlin is testing Tony Stewart's No. 20 Chevrolet while Jones is filling in for Robby Gordon in the No. 7 Ford.
Raines fastest as testing, rain begin
Tony Raines, driver of the No. 96 Chevrolet for Hall of Fame Racing, found his name atop the morning speed charts as testing got underway on Monday at Daytona International Speedway.
Raines posted a fast lap of 183.974 mph while 2006 Daytona 500 champion Jimmie Johnson was second fastest with a lap of 183.869. Rounding out the top five were Dave Blaney (183.756), Jamie McMurray (183.703) and Mike McLaughlin (183.700).
Rain forced the cancellation of the Monday afternoon session of testing. A half-day testing session has been added on Thursday.
Ricky Rudd returns: After taking a year off, Ricky Rudd is back in a full-ride in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.
Rudd took the entire 2006 season off with the exception of serving as a mid-race relief driver for Tony Stewart at Dover. He returns to Robert Yates Racing, the team he last drove for in 2002.
"It's pretty neat," said the 50-year-old Rudd. "I missed it. There's a lot of it I missed. Talk to me at the end of the year and I'll let you know the real story but right now I'm fresh and feel good and ready to go."
Rudd, whose lone Daytona International Speedway victory has come in the Gatorade Duel in 2000, will make his 29th start in the Daytona 500.
Rudd says comfortable with his role at Robert Yates Racing.
"The sponsors have been really good about working with me through some of the commitments that are required," Rudd said. "They're working with me a lot and being flexible on that. I feel like I'm kind of needed over here. They've got some work to do and I feel like I can contribute and make it a better race team."
Wrist not a problem: Jimmie Johnson, who broke his wrist in a golf-kart accident over the off-season, says that he isn't feeling any pain and the injury won't be a problem in his No. 48 Chevrolet
"My wrist is good," Johnson said. "I'm going to wear a splint in the car just to be smart and to be sure, but the cast is off and the hand is working and everything is good. The timing was perfect. I got the off-season to heal up and I'm ready for Daytona.
"It won't affect the 500. I'm going to be able to race in the 24 Hours of Daytona coming up here real soon and so it's just something that kind of slowed me down over the off-season. I had a cast on my hand and it kind of kept me on the sidelines watching my wife swim and being on vacation and watching my friends do all these fun things and I had to sit around and watch. But, beyond that, everything is good."
Super subs: Mike McLaughlin and P.J. Jones lending a helping hand during testing. McLaughlin is testing Tony Stewart's No. 20 Chevrolet while Jones is filling in for Robby Gordon in the No. 7 Ford.
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Ragan Cleared to run Daytona; Allmendinger & Whitt to be 'observed': Roush Racing's David Ragan, whom owner Jack Roush named as Mark Martin's replacement this Nextel Cup season in the #6 AAA Ford, has been approved to compete in the Nextel Cup Series events of Speedweeks 2007 at Daytona International Speedway. Two Nextel Cup rookies #72-Brandon Whitt and #84-A.J. Allmendinger will come to Speedweeks with "observation" approval. They must also participate in the final session of Cup testing Jan. 15-17.(NASCAR.com)
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Said to run at least 7 races: #60-Boris Said announced that he's got enough sponsorship to compete in seven Cup races this season with the No Fear Racing team he co-owns.(Associated Press)
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Richard Petty remembers Hamilton
Bobby Hamilton's racing hero was Richard Petty, so it meant something when Hamilton won races in the No. 43 car that Petty made famous when Hamilton drove for Petty Enterprises.
"Bobby was not only a huge part of the racing family, but of the Petty family as well," Richard Petty said of Hamilton, who died on Sunday. "He will always be a part of our family.
"He had a heart of a champion and that affected everyone around him. You could always count on Bobby. He was just that type of guy. He never let you down and gave you everything he had, on and off the track."
No funeral arrangements had been announced as of early Monday afternoon.
Bobby Hamilton's racing hero was Richard Petty, so it meant something when Hamilton won races in the No. 43 car that Petty made famous when Hamilton drove for Petty Enterprises.
"Bobby was not only a huge part of the racing family, but of the Petty family as well," Richard Petty said of Hamilton, who died on Sunday. "He will always be a part of our family.
"He had a heart of a champion and that affected everyone around him. You could always count on Bobby. He was just that type of guy. He never let you down and gave you everything he had, on and off the track."
No funeral arrangements had been announced as of early Monday afternoon.
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A true NASCAR driver
by Steve Waid
For years, the personification of a true NASCAR driver was this:
He was a man with limited education, but with grand ambition. He led a hard-scrabble life, but was unafraid of hard work. He had a love of cars and speed and made sacrifices to nurture that love. He built cars and took them to the local bullrings, where he competed against men like him – most with far more experience.
He learned. He honed his raw talent and sharpened his mechanical skills – he had to, because that was the only way he could keep his cars running week after week. There was no one else to do the work for him, and he couldn't afford to hire them, anyway. Besides, he expected no favors.
In time, he got noticed. He began to beat the best. He's got it, they said.
Finally, the hard work paid off. He was afforded the chance to move up to NASCAR's elite level. Once there, despite the fact he was afforded money and assistance he had never had before, he had to prove himself all over again.
Some were successful, some were not.
Some of those who made their mark in NASCAR, although they couldn't match the accomplishments of the superstars, became respected – even admired.
One of those was Bobby Hamilton, who passed away Jan. 7 after a valiant one-year battle with cancer.
Hamilton, 49, toughed it out on his own on the short tracks across the Southeast, particularly at Nashville Speedway, his home track, before he cracked into NASCAR in the Busch Series in 1988.
He won the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year title in 1991 and went on to win for Petty Enterprises, Morgan-McClure Motorsports and Andy Petree Racing.
He won the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship.
Achievement alone doesn't tell the real story. Hamilton loved racing and NASCAR. They were all he knew. He devoted his life to them.
His efforts didn't harden him. He was friendly, generous, straightforward and unpretentious. He earned tremendous respect in the garage area.
Everyone knew that this personable Tennessean did it the hard way. He earned everything he gained from racing, and then some.
Bobby Hamilton, simply put, was the true personification of a NASCAR driver.
by Steve Waid
For years, the personification of a true NASCAR driver was this:
He was a man with limited education, but with grand ambition. He led a hard-scrabble life, but was unafraid of hard work. He had a love of cars and speed and made sacrifices to nurture that love. He built cars and took them to the local bullrings, where he competed against men like him – most with far more experience.
He learned. He honed his raw talent and sharpened his mechanical skills – he had to, because that was the only way he could keep his cars running week after week. There was no one else to do the work for him, and he couldn't afford to hire them, anyway. Besides, he expected no favors.
In time, he got noticed. He began to beat the best. He's got it, they said.
Finally, the hard work paid off. He was afforded the chance to move up to NASCAR's elite level. Once there, despite the fact he was afforded money and assistance he had never had before, he had to prove himself all over again.
Some were successful, some were not.
Some of those who made their mark in NASCAR, although they couldn't match the accomplishments of the superstars, became respected – even admired.
One of those was Bobby Hamilton, who passed away Jan. 7 after a valiant one-year battle with cancer.
Hamilton, 49, toughed it out on his own on the short tracks across the Southeast, particularly at Nashville Speedway, his home track, before he cracked into NASCAR in the Busch Series in 1988.
He won the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year title in 1991 and went on to win for Petty Enterprises, Morgan-McClure Motorsports and Andy Petree Racing.
He won the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship.
Achievement alone doesn't tell the real story. Hamilton loved racing and NASCAR. They were all he knew. He devoted his life to them.
His efforts didn't harden him. He was friendly, generous, straightforward and unpretentious. He earned tremendous respect in the garage area.
Everyone knew that this personable Tennessean did it the hard way. He earned everything he gained from racing, and then some.
Bobby Hamilton, simply put, was the true personification of a NASCAR driver.
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Friends, drivers mourn death of Hamilton
Cancer claims Midstate NASCAR star
By LARRY WOODY/Staff Writer
Racer Bobby Hamilton, who rose from humble surroundings to become a NASCAR celebrity, yet never forsook his Nashville roots, died Sunday after a year-long battle with cancer.
He was 49.
Bobby Hamilton Jr. said his father died at approximately 3 p.m. at his Mt. Juliet home. Funeral arrangements were incomplete.
"I always had a lot of respect and admiration for Bobby," said three-time NASCAR champion Darrell Waltrip of Franklin, who like Hamilton honed his skills at Fairgrounds Speedway and years later assisted Hamilton with his racing career.
"He worked hard, took what he had and maximized it. One thing that always impressed me about Bobby was that he never forgot where he came from. After he made it in NASCAR he didn't move off to Charlotte or somewhere. He stayed here, built his truck team, and hired a lot of local people He gave a lot back to his sport and his community."
"Bobby was very tough and strong-willed and I thought the world of him," said Sterling Marlin, a two-time Daytona 500 champion from Columbia who also raced with Hamilton over the years.
"He was a great racer and a great guy. He'd give you the shirt off his back. He was a good friend."
Not a 'victim'
Hamilton, a non-smoker, was diagnosed with head and neck cancer about this time last year. He went public with his battle with cancer at a March press conference at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
"Don't call me a 'victim,'" he said at the time. "I don't look at it that way."
Hamilton underwent intense radiation and chemotherapy treatments that rendered him unable to race.
His son took over the driving duties in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, in which Hamilton was the 2004 champion.
In August Hamilton said the cancer was in remission and he set a goal to race again by the fall. But the cancer returned, and further treatments proved futile.
"My dad wanted things to continue as normal as possible during his ordeal," said Bobby Jr. "He didn't want anybody to worry about him or feel sorry for him. He honestly seemed more concerned about the rest of us than he did about himself."
Racing in his blood
Hamilton was a third-generation Nashville racer. His grandfather Charles "Preacher" Hamilton was one of the sport's pioneers, and along with Bobby's father Bud he built and maintained race cars for country-western singer Marty Robbins.
Bobby Hamilton quit school in his early teens, left home, and in his words "lived on the street" before taking a job driving wreckers for an East Nashville company.
He began racing stock cars at Highland Rim Speedway. He graduated to Fairgrounds Speedway (now Music City Motorplex) where he won track championships in 1987and 1988.
In 1989 Hamilton got his big career break when Waltrip — by then a top NASCAR racer — recommended him to drive a "movie car'' in a race at Phoenix International Raceway. While his role was simply to provide live-action footage for the Days of Thunder movie, Hamilton drove so impressively that he was offered a full-time ride.
"Bobby was a great mechanic," Waltrip said. "He once did me a favor by setting up a Busch Series car for me to race at the Fairgrounds and it was one of the best cars I've ever driven. I was impressed by how much he knew about race cars — how to build them and how to drive them. When they started looking for a driver for the movie car, I recommended Bobby.
"I wasn't surprised that one he got his opportunity he capitalized on it. He was always extremely focused and determined."
Solid career
Over the next 13 years Hamilton won four Nextel Cup races and over $13 million in prize money. One of the teams he drove for was Petty Enterprises. In 1996 he won his first Cup race, giving legendary Richard Petty — Hamilton's boyhood idol — his first victory as a team owner.
In 2003 Hamilton left the Cup Series to devote full-time as a driver/owner of the trucks he fielded out his racing team in Mt. Juliet.
Hamilton assisted several young area racers with their careers, including Chase Montgomery, Joe Henderson III and Deborah Renshaw, and supported numerous charitable causes. He especially supported educational causes, he said, because of regret over his own lack of formal education.
"My dad was a good person," said Bobby Jr. "The people who didn't know him are the ones who missed out."
In addition to Bobby Jr., Hamilton is survived by wife Lori and a granddaughter.
Cancer claims Midstate NASCAR star
By LARRY WOODY/Staff Writer
Racer Bobby Hamilton, who rose from humble surroundings to become a NASCAR celebrity, yet never forsook his Nashville roots, died Sunday after a year-long battle with cancer.
He was 49.
Bobby Hamilton Jr. said his father died at approximately 3 p.m. at his Mt. Juliet home. Funeral arrangements were incomplete.
"I always had a lot of respect and admiration for Bobby," said three-time NASCAR champion Darrell Waltrip of Franklin, who like Hamilton honed his skills at Fairgrounds Speedway and years later assisted Hamilton with his racing career.
"He worked hard, took what he had and maximized it. One thing that always impressed me about Bobby was that he never forgot where he came from. After he made it in NASCAR he didn't move off to Charlotte or somewhere. He stayed here, built his truck team, and hired a lot of local people He gave a lot back to his sport and his community."
"Bobby was very tough and strong-willed and I thought the world of him," said Sterling Marlin, a two-time Daytona 500 champion from Columbia who also raced with Hamilton over the years.
"He was a great racer and a great guy. He'd give you the shirt off his back. He was a good friend."
Not a 'victim'
Hamilton, a non-smoker, was diagnosed with head and neck cancer about this time last year. He went public with his battle with cancer at a March press conference at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
"Don't call me a 'victim,'" he said at the time. "I don't look at it that way."
Hamilton underwent intense radiation and chemotherapy treatments that rendered him unable to race.
His son took over the driving duties in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, in which Hamilton was the 2004 champion.
In August Hamilton said the cancer was in remission and he set a goal to race again by the fall. But the cancer returned, and further treatments proved futile.
"My dad wanted things to continue as normal as possible during his ordeal," said Bobby Jr. "He didn't want anybody to worry about him or feel sorry for him. He honestly seemed more concerned about the rest of us than he did about himself."
Racing in his blood
Hamilton was a third-generation Nashville racer. His grandfather Charles "Preacher" Hamilton was one of the sport's pioneers, and along with Bobby's father Bud he built and maintained race cars for country-western singer Marty Robbins.
Bobby Hamilton quit school in his early teens, left home, and in his words "lived on the street" before taking a job driving wreckers for an East Nashville company.
He began racing stock cars at Highland Rim Speedway. He graduated to Fairgrounds Speedway (now Music City Motorplex) where he won track championships in 1987and 1988.
In 1989 Hamilton got his big career break when Waltrip — by then a top NASCAR racer — recommended him to drive a "movie car'' in a race at Phoenix International Raceway. While his role was simply to provide live-action footage for the Days of Thunder movie, Hamilton drove so impressively that he was offered a full-time ride.
"Bobby was a great mechanic," Waltrip said. "He once did me a favor by setting up a Busch Series car for me to race at the Fairgrounds and it was one of the best cars I've ever driven. I was impressed by how much he knew about race cars — how to build them and how to drive them. When they started looking for a driver for the movie car, I recommended Bobby.
"I wasn't surprised that one he got his opportunity he capitalized on it. He was always extremely focused and determined."
Solid career
Over the next 13 years Hamilton won four Nextel Cup races and over $13 million in prize money. One of the teams he drove for was Petty Enterprises. In 1996 he won his first Cup race, giving legendary Richard Petty — Hamilton's boyhood idol — his first victory as a team owner.
In 2003 Hamilton left the Cup Series to devote full-time as a driver/owner of the trucks he fielded out his racing team in Mt. Juliet.
Hamilton assisted several young area racers with their careers, including Chase Montgomery, Joe Henderson III and Deborah Renshaw, and supported numerous charitable causes. He especially supported educational causes, he said, because of regret over his own lack of formal education.
"My dad was a good person," said Bobby Jr. "The people who didn't know him are the ones who missed out."
In addition to Bobby Jr., Hamilton is survived by wife Lori and a granddaughter.
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Hamilton more than a friend, recalls Marlin
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Early in 2006, with his season going nowhere fast, Sterling Marlin walked about his property outside Columbia, Tenn., wondering how to solve his mounting problems.
Marlin had started the season with a new team, MB2 Motorsports, but the year had quickly soured. The car simply wouldn't handle. With four consecutive finishes of 30th or worse to start the season, Marlin knew he had to do something, so he called the best chassis man he knew.
Bobby Hamilton.
Marlin made the hour trip from Columbia to Mt. Juliet, where Hamilton's sprawling Craftsman Truck Series operation is based. He knew Hamilton, a close friend of his for a decade, would be willing to help.
The trip paid dividends. Marlin began to run better, and said the impact of Hamilton's pro bono consulting job is hard to underestimate.
"I rode up to see him and he threw the book out," Marlin said. "He said, 'If you need anything, come back.' If you needed something, [he'd let you] come get it or come borrow it."
Hamilton, who died Sunday at 49, was known as a man who would give you the shirt off his back. And if someone had helped him along the way, he'd go even further.
Hamilton likely never forgot that Marlin had helped him back in the late 1980s, when Hamilton was a struggling Late Model driver at the old Nashville Fairgrounds.
Marlin was established at the Cup level at the time, but still retained a lot of his old contacts and friends in Middle Tennessee, and he owed one of them a favor.
The man -- Marlin forgets his name -- happened to be Hamilton's Late Model car owner. Marlin had the car owner bring Hamilton's Late Model down to Columbia, where Marlin worked on it.
"I was pretty good at putting ductwork and crush panels, so I put the ductwork and crush panels in the car and he won a lot of races," Marlin said. "I owed a friend some favors. They went to Nashville and won about every race that they run."
Marlin had initially met Hamilton late one night at the Fairgrounds.
"Back then at Nashville, after all the races were over, you could drive a street car in a race," Marlin said. "I had a 1964 Chevelle, and he had some kind of old car. That was the first time I seen him."
Their friendship grew over time. By the time Hamilton finally made it to the Cup Series -- nearly 15 years after Marlin -- the two began sharing plane rides. When Marlin left longtime employer Morgan-McClure Motorsports in 1998, it was Hamilton who replaced him.
"He was a hard racer and a very good racecar driver," Marlin said. "He was really smart. He was a real clean racer."
Before hearing of his friend's death, Marlin suspected Hamilton wasn't doing well. Hamilton made several appearances at the racetrack throughout the course of the 2006 season, but those stopped as the year came to a close.
"I heard about a month ago that he had some lymph nodes taken out, and I figured that wasn't any good," Marlin said.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Early in 2006, with his season going nowhere fast, Sterling Marlin walked about his property outside Columbia, Tenn., wondering how to solve his mounting problems.
Marlin had started the season with a new team, MB2 Motorsports, but the year had quickly soured. The car simply wouldn't handle. With four consecutive finishes of 30th or worse to start the season, Marlin knew he had to do something, so he called the best chassis man he knew.
Bobby Hamilton.
Marlin made the hour trip from Columbia to Mt. Juliet, where Hamilton's sprawling Craftsman Truck Series operation is based. He knew Hamilton, a close friend of his for a decade, would be willing to help.
The trip paid dividends. Marlin began to run better, and said the impact of Hamilton's pro bono consulting job is hard to underestimate.
"I rode up to see him and he threw the book out," Marlin said. "He said, 'If you need anything, come back.' If you needed something, [he'd let you] come get it or come borrow it."
Hamilton, who died Sunday at 49, was known as a man who would give you the shirt off his back. And if someone had helped him along the way, he'd go even further.
Hamilton likely never forgot that Marlin had helped him back in the late 1980s, when Hamilton was a struggling Late Model driver at the old Nashville Fairgrounds.
Marlin was established at the Cup level at the time, but still retained a lot of his old contacts and friends in Middle Tennessee, and he owed one of them a favor.
The man -- Marlin forgets his name -- happened to be Hamilton's Late Model car owner. Marlin had the car owner bring Hamilton's Late Model down to Columbia, where Marlin worked on it.
"I was pretty good at putting ductwork and crush panels, so I put the ductwork and crush panels in the car and he won a lot of races," Marlin said. "I owed a friend some favors. They went to Nashville and won about every race that they run."
Marlin had initially met Hamilton late one night at the Fairgrounds.
"Back then at Nashville, after all the races were over, you could drive a street car in a race," Marlin said. "I had a 1964 Chevelle, and he had some kind of old car. That was the first time I seen him."
Their friendship grew over time. By the time Hamilton finally made it to the Cup Series -- nearly 15 years after Marlin -- the two began sharing plane rides. When Marlin left longtime employer Morgan-McClure Motorsports in 1998, it was Hamilton who replaced him.
"He was a hard racer and a very good racecar driver," Marlin said. "He was really smart. He was a real clean racer."
Before hearing of his friend's death, Marlin suspected Hamilton wasn't doing well. Hamilton made several appearances at the racetrack throughout the course of the 2006 season, but those stopped as the year came to a close.
"I heard about a month ago that he had some lymph nodes taken out, and I figured that wasn't any good," Marlin said.
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With the sudden passing of Bobby Hamilton on Sunday, I am reminded once again of how those in the NASCAR community deal with tragedy.
They keep racing.
When Neil Bonnett was killed during the first practice session prior to the 1994 Daytona 500, Neil's friends and family members said that he died doing what he loved to do. In fact, with the help of his good friends Dale Earnhardt and Richard Childress, Neil was making a comeback from a devastating crash he had at Darlington four years earlier.
The Daytona 500 went on as scheduled in 1994, as grieving competitors and those who knew Neil best noted that he would want them to keep racing.
When defending Cup champion Alan Kulwicki died in April of 1993 in a plane crash and fan favorite Davey Allison was killed when he crashed his helicopter at Talladega three months later, the whole NASCAR nation was in a state of shock.
Yet the racing continued.
What else should one expect them to do? For most of the people involved with this sport, it's what they've done for the majority of their lives. Richard Petty probably said it best when speaking with the media shortly after the tragic death of his grandson Adam back in 2000.
He said that they would keep racing; that racing was their family business.
Thankfully there are people at the racetrack each week such as Motor Racing Outreach to help the competitors and their families through the tough times. Many drivers and crew members have cited MRO as a source of comfort following times of tragedy.
Many other writers have eloquently written about Hamilton's life and accomplishments. I won't be able to do him justice and would surely leave something out.
Personally, what I remember most is the rookie of the year battle he had with Ted Musgrave in 1991 and also Hamilton getting the ride in the King's car and taking that famous 43 to Victory Lane at Phoenix in 1996.
I am also reminded about how short life is, and how quickly someone in our lives could be taken from us. It reminds me to hug my kids and my wife and tell them I love them. It makes me want to get the most out of every day.
The NASCAR world will continue to turn without Bobby Hamilton in it, as it did when the iconic Dale Earnhardt was killed. As with Earnhardt, Hamilton is survived by a son that carries his name. Bobby Jr. will undoubtedly continue the racing traditions set forth by his father.
With a heavy heart, he will keep racing.
NASCAR World Hit With Another Loss
By Steve Sharbutt/Cup Scene Daily
By Steve Sharbutt/Cup Scene Daily
With the sudden passing of Bobby Hamilton on Sunday, I am reminded once again of how those in the NASCAR community deal with tragedy.
They keep racing.
When Neil Bonnett was killed during the first practice session prior to the 1994 Daytona 500, Neil's friends and family members said that he died doing what he loved to do. In fact, with the help of his good friends Dale Earnhardt and Richard Childress, Neil was making a comeback from a devastating crash he had at Darlington four years earlier.
The Daytona 500 went on as scheduled in 1994, as grieving competitors and those who knew Neil best noted that he would want them to keep racing.
When defending Cup champion Alan Kulwicki died in April of 1993 in a plane crash and fan favorite Davey Allison was killed when he crashed his helicopter at Talladega three months later, the whole NASCAR nation was in a state of shock.
Yet the racing continued.
What else should one expect them to do? For most of the people involved with this sport, it's what they've done for the majority of their lives. Richard Petty probably said it best when speaking with the media shortly after the tragic death of his grandson Adam back in 2000.
He said that they would keep racing; that racing was their family business.
Thankfully there are people at the racetrack each week such as Motor Racing Outreach to help the competitors and their families through the tough times. Many drivers and crew members have cited MRO as a source of comfort following times of tragedy.
Many other writers have eloquently written about Hamilton's life and accomplishments. I won't be able to do him justice and would surely leave something out.
Personally, what I remember most is the rookie of the year battle he had with Ted Musgrave in 1991 and also Hamilton getting the ride in the King's car and taking that famous 43 to Victory Lane at Phoenix in 1996.
I am also reminded about how short life is, and how quickly someone in our lives could be taken from us. It reminds me to hug my kids and my wife and tell them I love them. It makes me want to get the most out of every day.
The NASCAR world will continue to turn without Bobby Hamilton in it, as it did when the iconic Dale Earnhardt was killed. As with Earnhardt, Hamilton is survived by a son that carries his name. Bobby Jr. will undoubtedly continue the racing traditions set forth by his father.
With a heavy heart, he will keep racing.
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NASCAR finalizing plan to change Chase field to 12By David Newton/ESPN.com
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Staying within 400 points of the lead no longer will be a factor to get in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
A source close to NASCAR said the governing body is finalizing a plan that will allow the top 12 in points in the 10-race playoff with no provision for how many points a driver is from the lead.
The top 10 and anybody within 400 points after 26 races qualified for the playoff during the first three years of the Chase.
But because the 400-point margin hasn't been a factor -- seven or fewer drivers were within that range from 2004-06 -- NASCAR decided to set a hard number.
Barring a last-minute change, that number will be 12. NASCAR also will award 10 more points to the winner after running several models that showed after 10 the system created more runaway scenarios.
An official announcement will come later this month at the media tour in Charlotte.
Having 12 drivers would have kept four-time champion Jeff Gordon from missing the Chase in 2005 and two-time champion Tony Stewart from missing it last year. Gordon was 12th after 26 races and Stewart 11th.
Kasey Kahne is afraid expanding the field to 12 will reduce the drama at Richmond, where the field is set, because fewer drivers will be within striking distance.
In 2004, drivers between eighth and 15th were separated by 76 points going to Richmond. That meant five of eight drivers were at risk of missing the playoff, a number that would be reduced to three with 12 guaranteed spots.
A year ago, positions six through 11 were separated by 77 points but sixth through 12 were separated by 273.
"There was as much pressure for me going into the final five races as I've ever had," said Kahne, who was on the bubble going to Richmond despite having a series-high five wins. "It was exciting.
"I think 10 guys is pretty good. From sixth to probably 13th was pretty close. If you put more in, there won't be quite so much on the line."
NASCAR officials considered putting in a provision that would allow a driver with the most wins outside the Chase in the playoff, but decided against it.
They also decided against expanding the 400-point margin to another figure such as 500.
Kevin Harvick, who won the Busch Series title and finished fourth to Jimmie Johnson in the Cup Series, is fine with whatever system NASCAR picks.
"In the end, the guy who had the best year won the championship," he said of Johnson. "If we had the old points system he'd have won the championship."
David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.
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Refreshed Rudd ready to roll for rebounding RYR
By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The wet weather that wiped out the second half of Monday's Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway couldn't dampen Ricky Rudd's enthusiasm at being back in a racecar.
Wearing a white helmet and basic Simpson driver's suit -- white with black sleeves -- Rudd looked out of place amid others sporting colorful logos and designs. That is, until he rolled onto the track.
It didn't take long for the 50-year-old to fit right in. Within five laps, Rudd had the No. 88 Ford into the top 10, then took six more laps to stick the backup in the top 15.
So much for needing a refresher course.
At the end of his last season with the Wood Brothers in 2005, Rudd looked exhausted, both physically and mentally. On Monday, he dodged raindrops, chatted with friends and carried on like it was his first time at Daytona instead of his 59th.
"It's pretty neat. I missed it," Rudd said. "There's a lot of it I missed.
"Talk to me at the end of the year and I'll let you know the real story, but right now I'm fresh and feel good and ready to go. I'm not tired out from all of the travel."
Rudd's fresh outlook may be the perfect antidote for Robert Yates Racing, which failed to win a race in 2006, its first winless season.
So why come out of self-imposed retirement to return to a situation that you left five years ago?
"I feel like I'm kind of needed over here," Rudd said. "They've got some work to do and I feel like I can contribute and make it a better race team."
Rudd said he's already seen signs that the team is pointed in the right direction -- and that's a renewed effort from Robert Yates himself.
"Robert is a big key to this thing working and he has been for all these years and I think he tried to step back a little bit and it didn't work," Rudd said. "But I will say that he's back there now and that's probably the biggest incentive for me to come over here and run because they definitely have all the things in place to do good."
One place he'd love to "do good" is Daytona, where he's posted seven top-five finishes in 58 career starts, but never better than third.
Rudd finished behind Richard Petty and Bobby Allison in the 1981 Daytona 500 and trailed Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton in the Pepsi 400, 22 years later.
By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The wet weather that wiped out the second half of Monday's Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway couldn't dampen Ricky Rudd's enthusiasm at being back in a racecar.
Wearing a white helmet and basic Simpson driver's suit -- white with black sleeves -- Rudd looked out of place amid others sporting colorful logos and designs. That is, until he rolled onto the track.
It didn't take long for the 50-year-old to fit right in. Within five laps, Rudd had the No. 88 Ford into the top 10, then took six more laps to stick the backup in the top 15.
So much for needing a refresher course.
At the end of his last season with the Wood Brothers in 2005, Rudd looked exhausted, both physically and mentally. On Monday, he dodged raindrops, chatted with friends and carried on like it was his first time at Daytona instead of his 59th.
"It's pretty neat. I missed it," Rudd said. "There's a lot of it I missed.
"Talk to me at the end of the year and I'll let you know the real story, but right now I'm fresh and feel good and ready to go. I'm not tired out from all of the travel."
Rudd's fresh outlook may be the perfect antidote for Robert Yates Racing, which failed to win a race in 2006, its first winless season.
So why come out of self-imposed retirement to return to a situation that you left five years ago?
"I feel like I'm kind of needed over here," Rudd said. "They've got some work to do and I feel like I can contribute and make it a better race team."
Rudd said he's already seen signs that the team is pointed in the right direction -- and that's a renewed effort from Robert Yates himself.
"Robert is a big key to this thing working and he has been for all these years and I think he tried to step back a little bit and it didn't work," Rudd said. "But I will say that he's back there now and that's probably the biggest incentive for me to come over here and run because they definitely have all the things in place to do good."
One place he'd love to "do good" is Daytona, where he's posted seven top-five finishes in 58 career starts, but never better than third.
Rudd finished behind Richard Petty and Bobby Allison in the 1981 Daytona 500 and trailed Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton in the Pepsi 400, 22 years later.
Tom Higgins' Scuffs
Unforgettable Bobby HamiltonI was fortunate enough to cover stock car racing off and on--mostly on--from 1957 through 1996.
That's 40 years, or half an expected lifetime.
I can count on 10 fingers the races I remember most and never will forget, this old mind willing.
The crash-filled 1958 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, which Fireball Roberts won in a '57 Chevrolet...The '69 star-boycotted inaugural at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, taken by Richard Brickhouse, who never won again...Buddy Baker finally winning the Daytona 500 in 1980 after 20 years of trying, while driving an Oldsmobile nicknamed "The Gray Ghost" because it was so fast it blended into the asphalt...Benny Parsons and Darrell Waltrip battling each other and threatening "End Of Time" storm skies as dusk fell at Charlotte in the 1980 World 600, swapping the lead eight times in the final 26 laps. Benny made the final pass on the 399th of 400 laps to capture the victory...Ron Bouchard edging Terry Labonte and Darrell Waltrip in a three-car photo finish in the Talladega of '81 for his only Winston Cup Series triumph...Richard Petty narrowly beating Cale Yarborough to score victory No. 200 in the '84 Pepsi Firecracker 400 on July 4, 1984 at Daytona with President Ronald Reagan looking on, the first sitting leader of the free world to attend a race...Bobby and Davey Allison placing 1-2 in the 1988 Daytona 500, the greatest father-son finish in motorsports history...Dale Earnhardt charging from last place, 15th, to first in just two laps to win the 1993 Busch Clash at Daytona.
Add high on the list to these Bobby Hamilton's dramatic triumph in the 1996 Dura Lube 500 on Oct. 27 at Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona.
This race is especially significant to me for two reasons.
First, due to illness, it's the last NASCAR event I ever covered. I took early retirement shortly afterward.
More importantly, Hamilton's triumph returned Petty Enterprises to Victory Lane after an improbable absence of 13 years.
Memory of Hamilton, and his grand accomplishment, come rushing back to mind because of the popular Tennessee driver's untimely death on Sunday, a victim of cancer at age 49.
Here's a sampling of how I wrote the story from Phoenix for the Oct. 28, 1996 edition of The Observer:
"It seemed like old times for the Petty Enterprises team on Sunday...Hamilton took the lead on the 283rd of the 312-laps in the 500-kilometer race and returned the storied No. 43 car made famous by Petty to Victory Lane.
"It was the first win for the Petty-owned car since October of 1983 in the Miller 500 at Charlotte Motor Spedway with Petty at the wheel."
Petty won twice in '84, but he was driving a car owned my Hollywood music figure Mike Curb. It bore the No. 43, but it was not fielded by Petty Enterprises of little Level Cross, N.C. The second of those triumphs came in that Pepsi Firecracker 400 previously mentioned, and that car now sits in a place of honor in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.
So to me, and most others, Bobby Hamilton's triumph REALLY marked the return of the REAL 43 to Victory Lane.
This was not lost on Bobby.
"I can't believe it," he said in the press box after giving the new Grand Prix model its first victory and going through the ceremonies just off pit road. "Those last laps I thought I felt tires going down. I heard rattles and even thought the battery was shaking.
"My mind was running wild the last lap. There were three cars smoking and and I was concerned they would put some oil on the track.
"I'm so happy for Richard and Dale Inman and Robbie Loomis and the other guys on the team. They've worked so hard and have gone a lot of years without a win. To be the first to do it in this Pontiac since Richard means a lot to me."
Inman, Petty's cousin, was the team manager. Loomis was the crew chief.
Hamilton finished 1.23 seconds ahead of runnerup Mark Martin in a Ford.
"The boys did good today," said Petty, who was mobbed on pit road when the checkered flag fell. "I just sat and watched. Today, we had it all together. I thought Bobby had enough to take care of 'em there at the end, but you never know for sure."
Hamilton had tears in his blazing blue eyes in the press box as the interview ended. So did a lot of media members who admired the down-to-earth country boy Tennessean whose humbleness and sincerity and honesty affected everyone he met.
Beneath those ever-present dark glasses, I sensed King Richard's eyes were moist, too.
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Earnhardt Jr. takes his turn, takes some shots
Family business the focus as driver meets with media at Daytona
DAVID POOLE
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – You could turn Oprah, Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer all loose on the Earnhardt family business and there'd still be enough left to blow the Donald Trump-Rosie O'Donnell feud out of the water.
For several weeks, Teresa Earnhardt's quote in the Wall Street Journal about her stepson's focus – "Right now the ball's in his court to decide on whether he wants to be a NASCAR driver or whether he wants to be a public personality." – has been hanging in the air.
Monday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took his turn.
"I tried and tried not to comment on it," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I was trying not to get involved in it."
But there's no way he couldn't. His contract with Dale Earnhardt Inc. is up after the upcoming season, and until the sport's most popular driver has a new contract no other story in the sport is bigger.
So out it came. "I really didn't appreciate it," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I don't know, she might have just been having a bad day or something when she said that. I really don't know where that was coming from. I haven't talked to Teresa about what she said in the paper. I figured if anything needed to be said, she'd call me up and say it."
Teresa Earnhardt's comment was first published Dec. 14, and it has been talked about ever since. You'd think if wanted to temper that remark, she might have expressed it to her stepson over, say, Christmas?
Apparently not. Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, Dale Jr.'s sister and top business advisor, said in a radio interview last week that her brother spent Christmas Eve at her house. Surely their stepmother has that phone number.
In a story in Monday's USA Today, Earnhardt described his relationship with his stepmother as "cordial."
"I think everybody has always had this idea that we were very negative to each other," he added.
Gosh, wonder why?
"I don't want to really get too personal," Earnhardt Jr. said Monday. "…Mine and Teresa's relationship has always been very black and white, very strict and in your face. It is what it is…it ain't a bed of roses…I don't know how to explain it honestly.
"The relationship that we have today is the same relationship we had when I was 6 years old when I moved into that house with Dad and her. It has always been the same. It hasn't gotten worse over the last couple years or last couple months. It's always been the same, the way I felt about her then is the way I feel about her now."
Richie Gilmore, the highest ranking DEI official who bothers to visit most NASCAR tracks and speak to the racing media, sounded calmly optimistic about the contract talks. If you listen only to Gilmore, it's a matter of tidying things up and getting a deal signed so team can get its mind totally on making the red No. 8 Chevrolets go fast this year.
But life with the Earnhardts is more complicated than algorithms.
"I like driving the red car with the number 8 on it, and to drive that car you have to drive for DEI," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I don't really know what to tell you other than that. We're working to get through the contract and finish up a new deal. …There's just some things involved that I want out of the future involving the company, and it's very difficult for everybody to see eye to eye there."
Translated, that means that Earnhardt Jr. and his sister want to be part of the decision-making process in the team their father built, not be treated just as contracted employees.
"It has nothing to do with money," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It just has a lot to do with the future. …It's just about trying to make life as simple as you can make it and trying to make everything as successful as you can make it.
"I don't want to come here if I can't compete. …I want the best, I want the best cars, I want the best people. …Everybody at the company, we want that and we see other companies doing it and you see other teams doing what it takes and making the right moves. I just want to be in the same situation as I see other drivers in.
"I just want to drive races and win championships and hang it up one day. …Just give me a good race car and make it run fast and give me guys I can enjoy working with, and I'll go to the race track and I'll do whatever you need me to do with the sponsors and everything else. Just don't make everything a hassle and don't make everything a pain.
"I know I'm a good enough race car driver and I deserve it."
By Jerry Bonkowski/Yahoo! Sports
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 2007 NASCAR season unofficially kicked off with preseason testing here on Monday, and it didn't take long for one driver to stir things up.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. admitted Monday that his relationship with stepmother and team owner Teresa Earnhardt "ain't a bed of roses."
And with negotiations over a new long-term contract being oftentimes contentious and moving at a snail-like pace, the relationship between the Earnhardts may be becoming more like "The War of the Roses."
Three weeks ago, Teresa Earnhardt publicly questioned Junior's desire and motivation in a story that appeared in the Wall Street Journal. At the time, her stepson held his tongue.
But during Monday's test session at Daytona, Earnhardt the driver fired a huge salvo back at Earnhardt the team owner, even subtly threatening that he might jump ship and potentially take prized big-bucks sponsor Budweiser with him.
"Absolutely, my relationship with the car owner is definitely going to factor into my decision to drive there," Junior said. "I haven't talked to Teresa about what she said in the paper. I figured if anything needed to be said, she'd call me up and say it. But you know, my and her relationship definitely factor into my decision to drive there."
On the surface, Earnhardt's comments could be construed as posturing to speed up the pace of contract negotiations, as well as an attempt to force Teresa into giving him a piece of the ownership of Dale Earnhardt Inc. – which may be the biggest stumbling block in the negotiations.
But for a guy who for years has refused to comment at length about the relationship he has with his father's widow, his words Monday were quite enlightening.
"I don't want to really get too personal, but Teresa is my stepmother, and I have a mother at home that I have a very good relationship with," Junior said. "Mine and Teresa's relationship has always been very black and white, very strict and in your face. It is what it is."
And what it is would appear to be not very pretty, judging from the sarcasm seemingly dripping from Junior's words.
"The relationship that we have today is the same relationship we had when I was six years old when I moved into that house with Dad and her," Junior said. "It's always been the same. It hasn't gotten worse over the last couple years or last couple months. It's always been the same, the way I felt about her then is the way I feel about her now."
Since the death of her husband on the final lap of the 2001 season-opening Daytona 500, Teresa Earnhardt has become one of the most reclusive owners in Nextel Cup, prompting some critics to call her the Howard Hughes of NASCAR. She attends few races in person and rarely gives media interviews.
But there's no denying that she's one of the most powerful women in the sport.
Meanwhile, Junior is well aware that DEI's contracts with him and Budweiser both expire at the end of the upcoming 2007 season. Trying to pry Budweiser away could be a formidable task, and Junior may have to resign himself to staying with DEI if he wants to continue driving his world-famous ride.
"I like driving the red Bud car with the No. 8 on it," Junior said. "To drive that car, I basically have to drive at DEI."
Still, Junior left himself an out, adding, "To get this new deal done is going to be very difficult."
At times during Monday's media session, Junior seemingly channeled the spirit of his father. Instead of being the laidback, good ol' boy that the NASCAR world has come to love, Junior showed some of the spit and vinegar that his oftentimes cantankerous old man was known for.
"What's important to me is give me a good race car, don't give me any mess other than that," he proclaimed. "Just give me a good race car, make it run fast, give me guys I enjoy working with and going to the race track [with].
"I'll do whatever you need me to do with the sponsors and everything else, just don't make everything a hassle and don't make everything a pain and you'll have my dedication and everything else you need as far as my being a driver goes."
Junior wasn't afraid to say what was on his mind, just like his old man. Perhaps his theme for the upcoming season will be No More Mr. Nice Guy, and maybe this seemingly new attitude is the one ingredient he has been missing in his quest to become a Nextel Cup champion.
"I don't want to come here and [not] compete well and run well," said Junior, who did return to the Chase in 2006 after a one-year absence. "I don't want to just get by. I want the best – the best cars, the best people."
In other words, he wants from DEI what the Jimmie Johnsons, Tony Stewarts and Matt Kenseths get from teams like Hendrick, Gibbs and Roush – and Richard Childress Racing, where his father drove and where the rumor mill often has Junior eventually landing.
"We see other companies and teams doing what it takes and making the right moves, and I just want to be at the same situation as I see other drivers in," Junior said. "I know I'm a good enough race car driver and I deserve it. I'm just trying to get it all settled and make it right."
He took a big step toward that on Monday. Now, if only Teresa was listening … or even cared.
Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski is Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR columnist.
Family business the focus as driver meets with media at Daytona
DAVID POOLE
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – You could turn Oprah, Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer all loose on the Earnhardt family business and there'd still be enough left to blow the Donald Trump-Rosie O'Donnell feud out of the water.
For several weeks, Teresa Earnhardt's quote in the Wall Street Journal about her stepson's focus – "Right now the ball's in his court to decide on whether he wants to be a NASCAR driver or whether he wants to be a public personality." – has been hanging in the air.
Monday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took his turn.
"I tried and tried not to comment on it," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I was trying not to get involved in it."
But there's no way he couldn't. His contract with Dale Earnhardt Inc. is up after the upcoming season, and until the sport's most popular driver has a new contract no other story in the sport is bigger.
So out it came. "I really didn't appreciate it," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I don't know, she might have just been having a bad day or something when she said that. I really don't know where that was coming from. I haven't talked to Teresa about what she said in the paper. I figured if anything needed to be said, she'd call me up and say it."
Teresa Earnhardt's comment was first published Dec. 14, and it has been talked about ever since. You'd think if wanted to temper that remark, she might have expressed it to her stepson over, say, Christmas?
Apparently not. Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, Dale Jr.'s sister and top business advisor, said in a radio interview last week that her brother spent Christmas Eve at her house. Surely their stepmother has that phone number.
In a story in Monday's USA Today, Earnhardt described his relationship with his stepmother as "cordial."
"I think everybody has always had this idea that we were very negative to each other," he added.
Gosh, wonder why?
"I don't want to really get too personal," Earnhardt Jr. said Monday. "…Mine and Teresa's relationship has always been very black and white, very strict and in your face. It is what it is…it ain't a bed of roses…I don't know how to explain it honestly.
"The relationship that we have today is the same relationship we had when I was 6 years old when I moved into that house with Dad and her. It has always been the same. It hasn't gotten worse over the last couple years or last couple months. It's always been the same, the way I felt about her then is the way I feel about her now."
Richie Gilmore, the highest ranking DEI official who bothers to visit most NASCAR tracks and speak to the racing media, sounded calmly optimistic about the contract talks. If you listen only to Gilmore, it's a matter of tidying things up and getting a deal signed so team can get its mind totally on making the red No. 8 Chevrolets go fast this year.
But life with the Earnhardts is more complicated than algorithms.
"I like driving the red car with the number 8 on it, and to drive that car you have to drive for DEI," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I don't really know what to tell you other than that. We're working to get through the contract and finish up a new deal. …There's just some things involved that I want out of the future involving the company, and it's very difficult for everybody to see eye to eye there."
Translated, that means that Earnhardt Jr. and his sister want to be part of the decision-making process in the team their father built, not be treated just as contracted employees.
"It has nothing to do with money," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It just has a lot to do with the future. …It's just about trying to make life as simple as you can make it and trying to make everything as successful as you can make it.
"I don't want to come here if I can't compete. …I want the best, I want the best cars, I want the best people. …Everybody at the company, we want that and we see other companies doing it and you see other teams doing what it takes and making the right moves. I just want to be in the same situation as I see other drivers in.
"I just want to drive races and win championships and hang it up one day. …Just give me a good race car and make it run fast and give me guys I can enjoy working with, and I'll go to the race track and I'll do whatever you need me to do with the sponsors and everything else. Just don't make everything a hassle and don't make everything a pain.
"I know I'm a good enough race car driver and I deserve it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shifting gears?By Jerry Bonkowski/Yahoo! Sports
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 2007 NASCAR season unofficially kicked off with preseason testing here on Monday, and it didn't take long for one driver to stir things up.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. admitted Monday that his relationship with stepmother and team owner Teresa Earnhardt "ain't a bed of roses."
And with negotiations over a new long-term contract being oftentimes contentious and moving at a snail-like pace, the relationship between the Earnhardts may be becoming more like "The War of the Roses."
Three weeks ago, Teresa Earnhardt publicly questioned Junior's desire and motivation in a story that appeared in the Wall Street Journal. At the time, her stepson held his tongue.
But during Monday's test session at Daytona, Earnhardt the driver fired a huge salvo back at Earnhardt the team owner, even subtly threatening that he might jump ship and potentially take prized big-bucks sponsor Budweiser with him.
"Absolutely, my relationship with the car owner is definitely going to factor into my decision to drive there," Junior said. "I haven't talked to Teresa about what she said in the paper. I figured if anything needed to be said, she'd call me up and say it. But you know, my and her relationship definitely factor into my decision to drive there."
On the surface, Earnhardt's comments could be construed as posturing to speed up the pace of contract negotiations, as well as an attempt to force Teresa into giving him a piece of the ownership of Dale Earnhardt Inc. – which may be the biggest stumbling block in the negotiations.
But for a guy who for years has refused to comment at length about the relationship he has with his father's widow, his words Monday were quite enlightening.
"I don't want to really get too personal, but Teresa is my stepmother, and I have a mother at home that I have a very good relationship with," Junior said. "Mine and Teresa's relationship has always been very black and white, very strict and in your face. It is what it is."
And what it is would appear to be not very pretty, judging from the sarcasm seemingly dripping from Junior's words.
"The relationship that we have today is the same relationship we had when I was six years old when I moved into that house with Dad and her," Junior said. "It's always been the same. It hasn't gotten worse over the last couple years or last couple months. It's always been the same, the way I felt about her then is the way I feel about her now."
Since the death of her husband on the final lap of the 2001 season-opening Daytona 500, Teresa Earnhardt has become one of the most reclusive owners in Nextel Cup, prompting some critics to call her the Howard Hughes of NASCAR. She attends few races in person and rarely gives media interviews.
But there's no denying that she's one of the most powerful women in the sport.
Meanwhile, Junior is well aware that DEI's contracts with him and Budweiser both expire at the end of the upcoming 2007 season. Trying to pry Budweiser away could be a formidable task, and Junior may have to resign himself to staying with DEI if he wants to continue driving his world-famous ride.
"I like driving the red Bud car with the No. 8 on it," Junior said. "To drive that car, I basically have to drive at DEI."
Still, Junior left himself an out, adding, "To get this new deal done is going to be very difficult."
At times during Monday's media session, Junior seemingly channeled the spirit of his father. Instead of being the laidback, good ol' boy that the NASCAR world has come to love, Junior showed some of the spit and vinegar that his oftentimes cantankerous old man was known for.
"What's important to me is give me a good race car, don't give me any mess other than that," he proclaimed. "Just give me a good race car, make it run fast, give me guys I enjoy working with and going to the race track [with].
"I'll do whatever you need me to do with the sponsors and everything else, just don't make everything a hassle and don't make everything a pain and you'll have my dedication and everything else you need as far as my being a driver goes."
Junior wasn't afraid to say what was on his mind, just like his old man. Perhaps his theme for the upcoming season will be No More Mr. Nice Guy, and maybe this seemingly new attitude is the one ingredient he has been missing in his quest to become a Nextel Cup champion.
"I don't want to come here and [not] compete well and run well," said Junior, who did return to the Chase in 2006 after a one-year absence. "I don't want to just get by. I want the best – the best cars, the best people."
In other words, he wants from DEI what the Jimmie Johnsons, Tony Stewarts and Matt Kenseths get from teams like Hendrick, Gibbs and Roush – and Richard Childress Racing, where his father drove and where the rumor mill often has Junior eventually landing.
"We see other companies and teams doing what it takes and making the right moves, and I just want to be at the same situation as I see other drivers in," Junior said. "I know I'm a good enough race car driver and I deserve it. I'm just trying to get it all settled and make it right."
He took a big step toward that on Monday. Now, if only Teresa was listening … or even cared.
Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski is Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR columnist.
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"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
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Well, that's all for today. Until the next time, I remain,
Your![cid:902265518@09012007-1DEA]()
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
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.
This list is authored by:
Sandra Monacelli
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