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Happy Hump Day everyone!
Today In Nascar History
May 14, 2005:
Kasey Kahne wins the Chevy American Revolution 400 at Richmond for his first Cup victory. Tony Stewart finishes second, 1.674 seconds back.
Number of the Day
3: David Ragan's top-10 finishes, the fewest among the drivers in the top 12 of the Sprint Cup standings. Jimmie Johnson has the next fewest with four. Ragan is 12th in the standings, Johnson sixth.
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NASCAR Fantasy Leagues are here too. Join and enjoy them for the racing season.
Large Photo section. There are now more than 300 photos there. And more added almost daily.
NASCAR Fantasy Leagues are here too. Join and enjoy them for the racing season.
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You want to know about America?
It’s in the squeal of rubber, the scream of the engine and the roar of humanity seeing one of its own triumph against the odds. It’s there in a last lap duel. Joyous as Victory Lane, devastating as hitting the
rail. Here, life lessons are learnt and man it’s as obvious as the number of the car in pole position.
It’s simple – NASCAR born in America.
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Sprint _ Cup_Lounge (Formerly Nascar Sprint World Order)
We're growing, and we've changed our name to reflect the laid back format.
Welcome NASCAR Fans! A new fresh approach to all things Nascar has arrived.
Are you sick of those boring groups where everything is nothing more than Nascar is always right, where you can't say anything but nice things about drivers, teams, Nascar?
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Quote of the Year
"NASCAR ain't doing nothing I like right now." "I don't like the rules they are doing...you can bump somebody and they want to fine you for it." Pearson saw the look on Carl Edwards face and made sure to say he knew that Edwards could not speak-up or he would get
fined.
--David Pearson
In one weekend, Kyle supplanted Ulysses S. Grant as "the most-hated person in the history of Richmond."
--Mark Aumann In his Power Rankings comments
Quote of the Day
“By the way, somebody threw a beer can at me,” “Next time just make sure it's full so I can enjoy it out there, all right?
-- Busch, after winning last weekend
Comments from the Peanut Gallery
From Saul
I don’t understand the philosophy that Toyota should not be allowed torace because they are a foreign owned company. The Dodge
brand isowned by Daimler which is a German owned company. Why doesn't anyonego on and on about how they shouldn't be allowed to race? Another point I don't understand is, if you're a Chevy or Ford fanshouldn't you
welcome the foreign makes to Nascar so you can beat themon the track with your superior product? The hard stance that theyshould not be allowed to race says to me that you're scared of gettingbeat by them. If your American model car is so superior then it shouldbe proven on the race track, not in a
newsletter. Saul From LisaJeff Gordon says Hendrick has lost its edge
Posted by Doug Demmons -- The Birmingham News
Biffle a solid candidate to replace Stewart at Gibbs
JENNA FRYER/Associated Press
Track president thinks
changes are due in NASCAR
To HM - I'm not sure why you chose to personally attack me on this issue. My post was simply to show that, contrary to the other people's
perceptions, Toyotas are not strictly foreign-made. Nowhere in my comment did I say I was "proud of Toyota" and, last time I checked I don't own Car and Driver magazine nor do I write for them so, I'm not sure how you arrived at it being "my magazine facts. For you information - I DO NOT DRIVE A TOYOTA, DO NOT HAVE BRIDGESTONE TIRES AND DID NOT VOTE FOR OBAMA - not that any of that is your business. I can tell by your lovely use of the word "japs" that you are a narrow-minded bigot so I shall file away your little rant as the drivel that it was.
Lisa
Bits and Pieces
Dale Jr. in gray colors at the All-Star race: This Saturday, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s #88 Chevy will pay tribute to the Army National Guard with a special paint scheme inspired by the 3 Doors Down song "Citizen Soldier." The band's name and song title will appear on the hood. Lead singer Brad Arnold was moved to write the song after watching 50,000 everyday citizens become active members of Guard units and provide
disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. On May 20, 3 Doors Down will release its new, self-titled album that features the song "Citizen Soldier." The #88 National Guard Citizen Soldier/AMP Energy Chevy will resemble the "Gray Ghost" that Buddy Baker drove to win the 1980 Daytona 500. The car earned its nickname because the colors made it difficult to see on the track, and a camouflaged Baker would sneak up and overtake the competition. After Baker's Daytona win, drivers complained to NASCAR, and Baker had to put reflector strips on his car.(HMS PR)
Coca-Cola scheme for Petty at LMS: Quotes from #45-Kyle Petty: “I’ve been a part of the all-star weekend since it began and I always look forward to that date on the schedule. It seems like only yesterday that Davey Allison and I were spinning across the finish line in the first all-star race under the lights. I really believe that it was that night that began the aura of this race. Strange things happen under the lights at Lowe’s. We’re obviously going into the All-Star Showdown with the intention of qualifying our way into the Sprint All-Star race. But we are also looking at the big picture, which is the Coca-Cola 600. There are some pieces of this new car that we still need a better grasp of and the all-star weekend gives us a chance to do that. So while we are going for the money, we’re also using it as another test session. The
next two weekends are special for me because I get to run an awesome Coke paint scheme. Coke has been a partner of mine for a long time and they’ve used the all-star race and the Coke 600 to promote special events or products. This year the car will promote the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Summer is always different when it’s an Olympic summer. I’m just waiting on stock car racing to become an Olympic sport. I think we would have a pretty good chance at gold in that event.”(MCG SportsPetty Racing PR)
Kyle vs. Kurt
after 125 races...Kurt leads: Even though 23-year-old #18-Kyle Busch is definitely the hottest driver on the circuit right now, but the truth is that big brother #2-Kurt Busch had won more races at the same point in his career. Saturday night's Darlington race was the 125th career Cup race for Kyle. Here's the way the Busch Brothers' statistics compare at the same point in their careers:
Kurt Busch completed the 125th race of his Cup career on 5/15/04 at Richmond
Kyle Busch completed the 125th race of his Cup career on 5/10/08 at Darlington
After 125 races Kurt Busch had 9 wins, 25 top-5s, 45 top-10s, 20 DNFs and 2 poles
After 125 races Kyle Busch had 7 wins, 37 top-5s, 59 top-10s, 16 DNFs and 3 poles
(Tom Roberts PR)
Kurt Busch completed the 125th race of his Cup career on 5/15/04 at Richmond
Kyle Busch completed the 125th race of his Cup career on 5/10/08 at Darlington
After 125 races Kurt Busch had 9 wins, 25 top-5s, 45 top-10s, 20 DNFs and 2 poles
After 125 races Kyle Busch had 7 wins, 37 top-5s, 59 top-10s, 16 DNFs and 3 poles
(Tom Roberts PR)
Harvick goes Platinum for All-Star race: #29-Kevin Harvick is going platinum for the Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The defending All-Star champion winner will transform his bright yellow and red Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet into a shining platinum colored paint scheme in recognition of his sponsorship from Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic motor oil. Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic motor oil has adaptive molecules to manage the constant mechanical stresses inside an engine. For more information visit:
www.pennzoilplatinum.com. Harvick also will switch his existing racing seat to a Hendrick Motorsports Carbon Fiber seat this weekend during the Sprint All-Star Race. The Bakersfield, Calif., native spent two days at the HMS complex to get fitted for his new seat that will make him safer and more comfortable in the cockpit of the #29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevy. The HMS seat will cost approximately $10,400 for the main section and $1,200 for the headrest. The Carbon Fiber seat is designed to withstand 90G which is 10G more than NASCAR requires for certification.(RCR PR)
Addington named the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Race in Darlington: Steve Addington, crew chief of the #18 M&M’s/ Indiana Jones Toyota driven by Kyle Busch, has been named the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Race following last Saturday’s Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway. After starting sixth, Busch and the entire #18 team faced several setbacks throughout Saturday night’s 500-mile race including a loose lug nut in the pits that sent Busch back to 29th only 60 laps in. The newly resurfaced 1.366-mile oval also added new challenges to the already treacherous track, deemed “Too Tough To Tame.” In an effort to improve track position and overall performance, the Addington-led crew continuously made air pressure, track bar and wedge adjustments to stay on top of the ever-changing track conditions. His clear and accurate
direction led Busch and the #18 team to victory at the historic “Lady in Black.”
The 2008 Wypall Wipers Crew Chief Challenge is a season-long contest that will determine the best crew chiefs in the Sprint Cup garage. Following each Cup race, a panel will vote to determine which crew chief demonstrated the most outstanding strategy and leadership during the race. It isn’t necessarily the crew chief that goes to Victory Lane, but the crew chief that makes the biggest difference for his team. Representatives from Wypall Wipers, together with FOX/SPEED television analyst Jeff Hammond, and three of NASCAR’s top crew chiefs who represent Wypall, including Todd Berrier of Richard Childress Racing’s #29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevy team, Bob Osborne of Roush Fenway Racing’s #99 Office Depot Ford team, and Kenny Francis of Gillett Evernham Motorsports’ #9 Budweiser Dodge team, make up the panel of judges. In addition to the $1,000 check, the winning crew chief will receive signage to announce the win on their pit box the following week. The crew chief with the most weekly top wins will be honored as the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Year and will be presented a $20,000 check at the season finale in Homestead, Fla.
The 2008 Wypall Wipers Crew Chief Challenge is a season-long contest that will determine the best crew chiefs in the Sprint Cup garage. Following each Cup race, a panel will vote to determine which crew chief demonstrated the most outstanding strategy and leadership during the race. It isn’t necessarily the crew chief that goes to Victory Lane, but the crew chief that makes the biggest difference for his team. Representatives from Wypall Wipers, together with FOX/SPEED television analyst Jeff Hammond, and three of NASCAR’s top crew chiefs who represent Wypall, including Todd Berrier of Richard Childress Racing’s #29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevy team, Bob Osborne of Roush Fenway Racing’s #99 Office Depot Ford team, and Kenny Francis of Gillett Evernham Motorsports’ #9 Budweiser Dodge team, make up the panel of judges. In addition to the $1,000 check, the winning crew chief will receive signage to announce the win on their pit box the following week. The crew chief with the most weekly top wins will be honored as the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Year and will be presented a $20,000 check at the season finale in Homestead, Fla.
Eldora Speedway On Track for Sell-Out of Prelude to the Dream: Ticket renewals for the fourth annual Old Spice Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway are ahead of schedule, pointing to
another sell-out of the all-star dirt late model race featuring 25 world-renowned drivers.
Schrader to run 4th RCR car in Coca-Cola 600: Ken Schrader will attempt to qualify Richard Childress Racing's #33 Camping World Chevy for the May 24 Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Schrader, 57, of Fenton, Mo, made his Cup Series debut in 1984 and ran his first full Cup Series season in 1985. After 20 full seasons in NASCAR's
premier division, the veteran racer has tallied one win, six top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 44 starts at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Camping World's blue and gold paint scheme will adorn the #33 Chevrolet Impala SS.(RCR PR)
BAM Racing & Petty Racing team up for Sprint Showdown: Chad McCumbee will run the #49 Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge in the Sprint Showdown and will have a Petty Enterprises crew and Billy
Wilburn will serve as crew chief. Quotes from Chad McCumbee: “I just want to thank everyone at Petty Enterprises and BAM Racing for giving me the opportunity to race in the Sprint All-Star Showdown. Hopefully we can have a good run and race our way into the all-star race. That would be a dream come true. Being one of the few drivers from North Carolina, I know how big that race has become. Lowe’s Motor Speedway is our backyard and the race is for bragging rights as much as anything else. I like the 1.5-mile tracks, like Lowe’s, so I’m confident that we will be competitive on Saturday. Billy (Wilburn, crew chief) and I have developed a great relationship over the last three races that I’ve run for Petty Enterprises. We have a lot of confidence in each other and that’s important when you are racing for all or nothing. That’s how we have to approach it. It’s win or go home. At the same time I’m going to go out there and do what I can to help my teammates. Kyle and Bobby have
bigger fish on the line with the Coca-Cola 600. If there is something that I can try, something that may help them win next Sunday, then I am all for it. They have helped me tremendously in my time at Petty.” Petty Enterprises announced this week that McCumbee will pilot the #45 Dodge for two races this summer while Kyle Petty works in the broadcast booth for TNT.(MCG Sports/Petty Racing)
Jeff Gordon says Hendrick has lost its edge
Posted by Doug Demmons -- The Birmingham News
It seems funny to suggest that a racing team is struggling when it has one driver who is third in the points, another in sixth and a third in 10th.
Yet as dominant as Hendrick Motorsports was last year, the comparison to this year would suggest that.
Last year at this point of the season Hendrick drivers had won eight of 11 races. This year, so far, they have one only one.
And Jeff Gordon admitted during a teleconference today that Hendrick has work to do:
"But we're not up to par this year with the competition, not with Gibbs or Roush. We're working diligently to turn that around and change that. Just, you know, shows you how competitive this series truly is. And the competition's gone to work, and they've gotten ahead of us. We just, you know, we just don't have that edge that we had last year, and we're working hard to get it back.
"Gibbs, you know, has got it. So in a lot of ways, I know that Kyle wasn't happy about the way things turned out at Hendrick, but it's really fallen into place for him. And he should probably be thankful. Because, I mean, he wouldn't be in the position
he's in right now if he was still at Hendrick. We just, we have some work to do to get to that point."
Biffle a solid candidate to replace Stewart at Gibbs
JENNA FRYER/Associated Press
Greg Biffle certainly didn't sound like a guy committed to Roush Fenway Racing when he blasted the faulty equipment that led to his last-place finish at Darlington
Raceway.
"All I want is equipment to drive that stays together," said Biffle, who started from the pole and led 95 laps Saturday night before loose wheels, a bad vibration and a broken timing belt ended his race early.
"It is really frustrating, but you know what, I've just come accustomed to expecting it because week after week it's something. Something
breaks. Something falls off. I give it 110 percent as a driver all the time, and you just want your equipment to last and be able to win these races."
The rant was, of course, based on frustration. He seemed to have the car to beat, but instead left the track still searching for his first win of the season.
Still, it was clear "The Biff" was
sending a message with his biting remarks.
Just what might that message be? Well, signing a contract extension with Roush might not be the slam-dunk both sides have led everyone to believe.
In fact, Biffle might finally be ready to test the free-agent market.
If that's indeed the case, the first place Biffle should look is Tony Stewart's seat at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Of course, that ride isn't technically open right now. Stewart is under contract through 2009, he's yet to ask to be released from his contract early and Gibbs officials have insisted they'll hold him to his deal. But it's becoming increasingly clearer that the two-time champion has some juicy offers on the table that he's taking rather
seriously.
Among Stewart's options is an opportunity to purchase fledgling Haas-CNC Racing. On paper it seems a peculiar fit — the team doesn't run up front, its sponsorship isn't unlimited and Stewart would have to overhaul the entire program — but it sure looks like Stewart is interested.
It would be counterproductive for Gibbs to hold Stewart hostage
if his heart is truly elsewhere, and there's persistent rumblings that JGR officials are scouring the market for Stewart's replacement.
Carl Edwards was the top free agent, but two weeks ago he signed an extension to stay at Roush. Team owner Jack Roush later said the team received a stiff challenge for Edwards from a competing team, which appears now to have been JGR.
Team president J.D. Gibbs refused to address claims that the team pursued Edwards. "We don't discuss driver negotiations," he repeated over and over, which hardly put the Edwards rumor to rest.
So if Gibbs officials truly are looking at a Plan B, then Biffle would be a solid choice. He works hard, wants to win and the ups and downs at Roush are the only thing that's prevented him from claiming his first Cup title.
Biffle has won a Truck Series championship and Busch Series championship driving for Roush, and he seemed to be on the cusp of Sprint Cup greatness with his breakthrough 2005 season. He won six races and finished second to Stewart in the standings that year, but the success tailed off and he's still working to climb back to the top of the series.
He's won just three races since 2005, and despite a strong start this year, he's faltered of late and dropped to 11th in the standings after Darlington. Now 38 years old, he's growing impatient and wants equipment he knows he can
drive to a title.
Biffle can certainly get that at Gibbs, which has won three titles since 2000 and has a trio of legitimate contenders this season in Stewart, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. He's a smart, sophisticated veteran who is comfortable in his own skin and it's not important to him to have the spotlight this late in his career.
Before Darlington,
he seemed determined to stay at Roush.
"My 100 percent intent is to work out an extension with Roush," Biffle said a week ago in Richmond. "I've sat back and thought about what else is out there. There are a lot of great teams and great opportunities out there ... but do you look at it as are they better than what I have now or how are they different than what I have now?
"I'm making my decision kind of how (Dale) Earnhardt Jr. did, and it's about winning races and championships and contending for the title and having good equipment. There are lots of teams that have that, but I feel comfortable where I'm at with Roush Fenway. I've been there 10 years and we've got great equipment."
Then that same equipment failed him Saturday night in Richmond, and Biffle sure didn't sound as convincing. Compounding the situation is that Roush officials have openly questioned why, if Biffle is so certain he wants a contract extension, he's been absent of late from the bargaining table.
Biffle's cited a busy schedule for the slow contract talks, but it's time to wonder if he maybe isn't taking a harder look at what's available across the garage. Of all the rides that could be open, Stewart's seat at Gibbs is undoubtedly the best.
And of all the drivers still on the market, Biffle is the top choice. He's considered more talented than Ryan Newman, who is available, and
Martin Truex Jr., who might be available, and both drivers are continuously mentioned for other rides.
JGR has developmental driver Joey Logano in the wings, but he's not ready for a Cup ride and is likely better suited for an expansion to four teams in 2010. Biffle would be the perfect bridge and could help the team transition into its post-Stewart days.
His departure could also help solve the car-count problem for Roush, who must get down to four teams by the end of the 2009 season. Edwards re-upped, Jamie McMurray has a long-term deal, Matt Kenseth doesn't appear to be going anywhere and second-year driver David Ragan is an emerging star who cracked the top 12 after his fifth-place run at Darlington.
Someone eventually has to go, and that someone may very well be Biffle.
Frustrated Biffle might not be so entrenched at Roush Fenway after all
Terry Blount/espn.com
If you're a Sprint Cup team owner looking for a quality driver, this might be the time to give Greg Biffle a call.
Biffle hasn't signed a new contract with Roush Fenway Racing. He has said repeatedly that he plans to stay at RFR and only needs to work out the details of a new deal.
But you might catch Biffle at the right moment if you make him an enticing offer this week. Biffle was furious about the problems his team had Saturday night at Darlington.
He had engine failure in the end, which can happen to any team, but problems before that (vibrations from loose wheels) show a continuing trend of bad breaks that has Biff a little, well, miffed.
Saturday night was the first time this season Biffle failed to finish a race in the No. 16 Ford, but it was the fourth time in the past five races he failed to finish in the top 15.
Biffle finished 15th or better, with three consecutive top-5s, in the first five races of 2008. He felt he had the car to
beat at Darlington, leading seven times for 95 laps.
But wheel vibrations and the later engine problem added up to a 43rd-place showing. Biffle found the entire situation unacceptable, saying self-induced mistakes are hard to swallow.
"We had wheels loose twice tonight," Biffle said. "I know everybody is trying their hardest, but the fact of the matter is you cannot leave the wheels loose."
Maybe Biffle's words were nothing more than a moment of frustration. Or maybe Biffle is thinking, "I deserve better."
Biffle can wheel a race car. He won six races in 2005 and came within 35 points of catching Tony Stewart for the championship. But he failed to make the Chase the past two seasons while the team underwent some changes.
Things have improved this year, but here's the real question for Biffle: "What's out there that might be better?" That's a bit of a gray area.
Casey Mears says he's good through next season at Hendrick Motorsports, but does he actually have a contract that says it? Dale Earnhardt Inc. picked up the option of Martin Truex Jr.'s contract, but Truex doesn't seem to think it's a binding agreement.
Then there's the new fourth car coming at Richard Childress Racing next year. Sounds like a nice opportunity, but Biffle isn't taking a ride that doesn't
have a guaranteed spot in the field.
And what's the situation at Penske Racing? That team has steadily declined since the 1-2 finish in the Daytona 500. Will Ryan Newman stay? Could Biffle fit into Roger Penske's future plans?
The
real wild card in this silly early-season talk is Stewart. If he gets out of this 2009 commitment to Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR officials say that isn't an option), the No. 20 Toyota will become the best ride on the market.
Other than the 20 car, none of the cars listed above is racing better than Biffle so far this season. He's still inside the Chase cutoff at 11th and ranks No. 2 in the standings among the five RFR drivers, although David Ragan is closing fast.
The grass doesn't look so green when Biffle starts checking his options. All these guys could end up staying right where they are.
However, each time the No. 16 car fails to live up to Biffle's expectations, another team owner might see an opening to keep Biffle from re-upping with RFR.
If only …
IRL founder Tony George believes the driver lineup for the 2008 Indy 500 might look a lot different if the open-wheel merger had taken place a couple of years ago.
"We want this to be a destination and not a stop-off to somewhere else," George said. "If we could have put this together two or three years ago, I suspect you wouldn't have seen [Juan Pablo] Montoya, [Dario] Franchitti or [Sam] Hornish going to NASCAR.
"It is what it is. We have to look forward now and not look back. We have to do our best, with a great cornerstone event like the Indianapolis 500, to create a series where drivers want to be."
NHRA pressure cooker
NHRA Top Fuel rookie Antron Brown and veteran Funny Car driver Ron Capps were in Indianapolis on Saturday to watch Pole Day qualifying for the Indy 500.
It had its exciting moments but was nothing like what NHRA drivers experience at every event. Even the best racers can miss the 16-car show these days because competition is so tight.
"There's so much pressure," Capps said. "It used to be you just showed up for qualifying and tried to put your car in the top half of the field so you'd have lane choice on Sunday. That was your
goal.
"Now your goal is to do everything you can just to get in. If you make one tiny mistake, you may not make the show. Great teams fail to do it. You can win the week before and not even make it to Sunday the next week."
The
last NHRA event at Madison, Ill., was a prime example.
Pro Stock drivers Tom Hammonds and John Nobile had identical qualifying runs of 6.641 seconds, so Nobile made the Sunday eliminations with a better speed at 208.39 mph to Hammonds' 206.95 mph.
Tony Bartone edged Jack Beckman for the final Funny Car spot by one-hundredth of a second (4.824 to 4.834). Now that's pressure.
And the difference between the top qualifier and the first car that didn't make the show was less than a tenth of second in both categories.
Feud of the Week
Drivers could be
jumping ship during Silly Season
CBSSports.com's Brian De Los Santos and Pete Pistone provide analysis on three weekly racing topics.
We welcome your question submissions. If you have a question or a hot auto racing topic you'd like to see discussed, post it here.
| 1. Do you expect a lot of movement in Silly Season or will the top free agents stay where they are? | |
| Brian De Los Santos | Pete Pistone |
| | |
| 2. Does NASCAR really need an All-Star race? What would you change about the format if you could? | |
| Brian De Los Santos | Pete Pistone |
| | |
| 3. How do you see All-Star night playing out? | |
| Brian De Los Santos | Pete Pistone |
| | |
The Greatest American Anti-Hero
By Greg Engle, Editor Cup Scene Daily
By Greg Engle, Editor Cup Scene Daily
Snidely Whiplash, Lex Luthor, Captain Hook…. and Kyle Busch?
According to many Busch the brash young Las Vegas native and current NASCAR star belongs in a rogue’s gallery alongside the most famous villains in history.
Indeed he seems to have slipped in line to join some of NASCAR’s drivers fans love to hate.
He wasn’t exactly the most revered driver during his tenure with Hendrick Motorsports and this season he’s done little to improve his standing among the NASCAR Nation.
After a late race tangle with Dale Earnhardt Junior at Richmond a few weeks ago, clearly incidental and unintentional contact, Busch nearly needed an armed guard to leave.
Since then the chorus of boos for Busch, already loud to begin with, has grown into a roaring crescendo.
But if the fans disapproval troubles the 23 year old, he certainly doesn’t show it, and he’ll be the first to say it
doesn’t really bother him.
Busch isn’t about to tie Nell to railroad tracks or steal Superman’s Kryptonite. He simply goes out and does what he gets paid to do, win races. And since he’s joined Gibbs Racing, after a quiet stint with Hendrick, he seems to have found his groove. He’s winning races and leading the point standings.
“I don't care. I'm here to race,” Busch said after winning last weekend at Darlington. “I'm here
to win. If I win, it just makes 'em more upset and crying on their way home.”
He’s become something that NASCAR and every sport needs, the anti-hero, the bad guy, the villain. Like the days of old, Busch is drawing attention to himself and to the sport and at a time when it could use it.
Four time champion Jeff Gordon, who has ‘enjoyed’ his own boos over the years said the attention Busch is drawing to himself is good not
only for the sport but the villain role could end up being good for Busch.
"I don't think anybody sets out to be a villain,” Gordon said this week. “I think that nobody wants boos. But what you do want to do is stand out. You want to do it by winning races, being competitive out there, and sometimes you might ruffle some feathers along the way.”
It harkens back to the days of Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip or Cale
Yarbrough and Bobby Allison or David Pearson.
"He definitely has that personality that could be the villain,” Gordon said. “In a different way than, you know, certainly not a Dale Earnhardt -type of way.”
"I think that he's young,” Gordon added. “And sometimes he says things that don't always go over well, and sometimes on the racetrack, his aggressiveness, you know, can get him in trouble. But those same things allow him
to have great success."
The fact is that after flat and low ratings last year so far this season TV ratings are up. Whether that is a direct result of Busch or if he’s simply one part is arguable, but one thing is for sure; fans are buzzing and Busch keeps on winning.
And with comments like his post race ones at Darlington last weekend, he’s certainly enjoying the black hat and cape.
“By the way, somebody threw a beer can at me,” Busch said after winning last weekend. “Next time just make sure it's full so I can enjoy it out there, all right?
1 on 1: Humpy Wheeler
Track president thinks
changes are due in NASCAR
By Joe Menzer, NASCAR.COM
It has been 32 years since H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler was tabbed to run what today is called Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., on the outskirts of Charlotte.
This is his favorite time of the year, when for a good chunk of the month of May all eyes in the stock-car racing world are focused on him and his racetrack. This Saturday night LMS will host the Sprint All-Star Race, and during an eight-day span it also will be home to a Truck Series event, a
Nationwide Series race and the Coca-Cola 600, one of Sprint Cup's most prestigious races.
The president and general manager of LMS sat down with NASCAR.COM and talked about what's going on in his world, which Wheeler basically controls.
Q: Did the recent controversy stemming from the Kyle Busch-Dale Earnhardt Jr. wreck at Richmond really help fuel ticket sales for this weekend's all-star race?
Wheeler: Nothing beats drama in entertainment. And pro sport and pro motorsports is entertainment as much as Young and the Restless and General Hospital. So without drama, things get boring. I think that's what got us here -- we've had a tremendous amount of drama in
this business. People are not going to talk about the ordinary. It's the extraordinary that people are going to talk about, and that was an extraordinary event.
Q: How so?
Wheeler: What was extraordinary about it was, I'm not sure how many drivers would have attempted the pass to start off with -- knowing they had second locked up, and knowing that their car was just a little bit slower than the lead car. It's just so tempting and it's so easy to stay back there and sit, and just say, 'I finished second. I had a good points race,' which is one of the real fallacies we have in this business right now.
The emphasis, everything should be on winning. Second place is
something else. I know there are car owners like Smoky Yunick turning in their grave right now. If his driver had said, 'I had a great points day. I finished third,' he probably would have fired the driver right then. They wanted to win.
So the fact that Kyle Busch made the attempt to win the race was a big thing. I definitely think his car was the slower of the two, off by just a hair. And on a real tight racetrack like Richmond, that's a big deal. So it's like many of those races that we sit around and watch, whether they're at Thunder Road up in Vermont or at some little
track or a Legends race somewhere of whatever, and you see a bunch of guys running close together with a few laps to go -- and the two front guys are running as close together as those guys were. You would say, 'Hey, who's running third? He's going to win the race -- because those two guys are not going to make it.' And that was precisely what happened.
Q: You said that, in a way, you were glad to see Clint Bowyer win that race. Why?
Wheeler: It was good to see Clint Bowyer win because he's kind of a throwback driver, in my opinion, to the drivers of yesteryear. Here's a guy who was sitting in a body shop, putting bondo on cars like Earnhardt was before Rod Osterlund hired him [as a driver]. And Richard Childress called him, and Clint washed the bondo off his hands and came to North Carolina. So it's good to see a guy like that doing well.
Q: You've always been pretty close to the Earnhardt family, though; how do you think Junior is handling the frustration of his current 73-race winless streak in points events?
Wheeler: I know it was terribly disappointing to Dale Jr. I put a sign up on the toolbox in Earnhardt's pit [during recent testing at
LMS] and think he'll use it as a rallying point. I just got a piece of duct tape and a Sharpie and I just wrote, 'It'll happen.' Those guys got a charge out of that, I think. The fact that they've come so close this year, and it just hasn't happened, then it gets frustrating.
Being around race drivers as long as I have, after a guy wins some races and he goes through a long drought, it really starts working on that teeny part of his brain that's real negative and says, 'Hey, you may never win another one -- because there's no guarantee that you will.' So that puts doubt in
the brain, and that doubt affects the confidence -- and confidence has so much to do with driving a racecar.
Going through a drought like that is nothing new. His father went through one. Richard Petty went through one. It really is a mind-numbing thing when you do that because you've got all these people working on your car back at the shop -- 80 people or whatever it is. They want the car to win; the car owner wants to win; the sponsor has thousands of people working for him and they all want you to win; and then you've got millions of fans who want you to win. And you're
not winning. It's just frustrating.
Q: Who was to blame for the incident, in your mind?
Wheeler: As
Bill Elliott said, 'It's one of them racin' deals -- two cars trying to go into a very narrow area, and something had to give.' The fact is both of them gave. Was there evil intent? No, I don't think there was any evil in it. I think Kyle Busch wanted to win the race; and I think certainly that Earnhardt Jr. wanted to maintain where he was. It was two insurmountable forces, and they didn't make it. And meanwhile, Clint Bowyer gained a big win off that.
Q: You wouldn't mind a finish like that for your all-star race, would you?
Wheeler: No, I wouldn't. And you know the all-star race is perfectly capable of having finishes like that. So I'd like to see that happen. That would help everybody. We've had some dull races this year. So anything that will liven things up at this point is something I love.
Q: Do you have a favorite all-star moment?
Wheeler: The seminal moment here undoubtedly was 1992. We had announced six months before that we were going to light the track, and everybody said we were crazy and you can't do it and all that kind of stuff. I wondered there for a while whether we could do it or not, because the first couple of attempts we made to
make it work didn't, in fact, work.
Q: How much trouble did you actually have?
Wheeler: We had
terrible trouble. It had never been done before. But I figured if you could light a half-mile track, you could light a mile-and-a-half track. The problem was, when you stretch the lighting out that far, it does produce some challenges that you don't have when you're just doing a small area. That was the largest area ever lit for a sports event in the history of sports at the time.
So we had some real problems early on. But we brought Musco [Lighting] in -- a bunch of guys from a little town in Iowa named Muscatine. I think the turning point -- and not many people know this
-- but the guy who ran the company, he was a brilliant engineer. And he says, 'I want to take the Petty driving school.' I said, 'Why do you want to do that?' And he said, 'I want to see what these guys go through.'
And after he took the Petty driving school, he saw what he had to do. I didn't want any poles in the infield, because I didn't want that picket fence effect. That would have negated the whole thing, to me. And that's when he came up with the reflective mirrors, which was really ingenious.
Q: Musco Lighting has gone on to become a huge player when it comes to lighting sports venues, hasn't it?
Wheeler: They've since become the premier sports lighting
company. They've done all the Olympics since then.
That was the deal I made with him. The Atlanta Olympics, their whole lighting contract was up for grabs. And I said, 'You do this. Make a deal with us and do it at the right price, and I'll sweeten up all those people from Atlanta for you. This will show them what you're really capable of doing -- because if they see you can light this place, you can light anything. A soccer field will be nothing after this.' And they did get the Olympics. They got Melbourne, Australia, and then they got the Olympics in
Greece.
Q: They did all right for themselves then?
Wheeler:
Yep. And we did, too.
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