Happy Monday.

Today In Nascar History

March 16, 1980: Rusty Wallace finishes second in his first Cup race, the Atlanta 500. Dale Earnhardt gets the win by 9.55 seconds. Bobby Allison is third.

Bits and Pieces

Longtime Daytona 500 invocation preacher dies

The Rev. Hal Marchman, a Baptist preacher who delivered the invocation before the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959 and continued as the Daytona International Speedway’s unofficial chaplain through 2004, died “unexpectedly” on Sunday at Indigo Palms Memorial Care Facility in Daytona Beach, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Marchman, who was asked by his friend and NASCAR founder Bill France in 1959 to deliver the inaugural invocation, was a familiar sight at the speedway throughout the years for fans and drivers alike. NASCAR former champion Darrell Waltrip told the News-Journal that Marchman was “a servant and a shepherd” that “took good care of his flock.”

Waltrip also told the News-Journal that he imagined Marchman is “in heaven alongside Mr. (Bill) France.”

According to the story on the Web site, Marchman had been fighting dementia and memory loss for years, but it was a sudden bout of illness that ended his life Sunday, his daughter Anne Marchman-Jones said.

“Rev. Hal Marchman was a true friend to Daytona International Speedway and will be sorely missed,” said Robin Braig, president of the Speedway. “He touched many lives at the Speedway, from the competitors to the race fans.

“We’re thankful and grateful for his many years of service to the Speedway, but also to the community. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Marchman family.”

Sorenson to run PVA.org scheme at Bristol: #43-Reed Sorenson is scheduled to be run a Paralyzed Veterans of American scheme in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. A PVA PR had the scheme being run at Daytona in July and Texas in November. Sorenson commented: "You know everyone wants to do well out here. But I can't think of a sponsor I have ever had where you felt like you wanted to do something extra special on the track. PVA helps a group of people who've probably given as much for this country as anyone has given." Richard Petty said, "You know, I want to tell anyone serving in our military thank you. Thank you for doing what you are doing over there so all of us can do what we are doing over here. This country needs a strong defense and everyone serving in our military deserves our thanks. We've had a chance to hang out with the Air Force people who've come to the races this season and we really mean it when we say we are honored that they think enough of us to support us like they have and do what they are doing for this country."(RPM PR)

Special Hall of Fame TV Show: SPEED will air a special edition of This Week in NASCAR on Monday at 8:00pm/et. The one-hour special, hosted by Steve Byrnes, will focus on the upcoming opening of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Joining Byrnes will be NASCAR Hall of Fame Executive Director Winston Kelly, who will give viewers a construction update and talk about exhibits, artifacts and interactive displays going into the Hall of Fame. In addition, Kelly will provide an update on the NASCAR Plaza/office tower, the NASCAR Hall of Fame brick program, as well as explaining the criteria for gaining induction to the Hall and introducing the panel members who will choose the class each year. SPEED personalities Dave Despain and Mike Joy, as well as longtime Associated Press motor sports writer Mike Harris are set to participate and debate the possible candidates for the inaugural class.(SPEED)

Robby places 2nd San Felipe 250: Second-generation veteran Las Vegas desert racer Brian Collins roared through the rugged trails and washes of Mexico’s Baja California desert Saturday, earning his second straight overall and SCORE Trophy-Truck victory in the #12 Collins Motorsports Mopar Dodge Ram1500 at the 23rd Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 desert race. NASCAR's Robby Gordon finished 2nd in the SCORE Trophy-Truck class.(dirtnewz.com)

Blickensderfer makes surprise appearance to support Dad: Macon Meridian coach Jack Blickensderfer wishes he hadn't been so hard on his son, Drew, growing up. Drew Blickensderfer wouldn't have had it any other way. "He never let me win at anything," the younger Blickensderfer said. "I can remember playing basketball against him on the driveway as a kid, and he would block every one of my shots. He was hardcore when I was on the baseball diamond and he was hardcore when I wrestled. He was just trying to instill that competitive desire in me." That competitive desire has paid off for Drew Blickensderfer three times in the last three months. In mid-December, he was named crew chief for #17-Matt Kenseth's NASCAR Sprint Cup team. And in February, he won his debut race with Kenseth — the Daytona 500. A week later, in California, Kenseth won again. Father and son shared another special moment Friday. Drew Blickensderfer surprised his dad by flying in from Charlotte, N.C., to watch Meridian's 51-47 Class 1A state semifinal victory over Annawan. Joining the younger Blickensderfer were his brother Matt, who drove in from Cincinnati, and two aunts who traveled from Texas and Ohio.(see full story at the Peoria Journal Star), on Saturday night Macon Meridian won the Class 1A boys basketball state title.

Nadeau still hopes to race: No doubt about it, former NASCAR driver Jerry Nadeau would jump at the opportunity to return to stock-car racing. "I'm still trying to figure out what's next for me," Nadeau said. "I'm just a racer, I love to race and if I can come back in some capacity, I'll do that." Sidelined since 2003 due to injuries suffered in a horrific crash in practice at Richmond International Raceway, the 38-year-old Danbury, Conn., native attended a fundraiser for former NASCAR crew chief Jake "Suitcase" Elder at Memory Lane Motorsports and Automotive Museum on Saturday. Nadeau, who made a 177 starts during his seven year Cup career, still experiences numbness on the left side of his body resulting from the crash, but said he is cleared medically to race. "I've kind of come accustomed to it. It's just something that I have to life with," Nadeau said. "But I'm fine. I can race and I still do my simulator all the time."(SceneDaily)

Atlanta TV Ratings down 14%: NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing on Fox earned a 5.5/12 (8.9 million viewers) on Sunday for the Kobalt 500 from Atlanta. NASCAR ranked as the highest-rated and most-watched sports event of the weekend for the fourth consecutive week. Although Sunday's rating is down -14% compared to last year's 6.4/15 (10.6 mill), it's up +6% over 2007's 5.2/12. A huge factor in the year-to-year decline was competition from the Duke-North Carolina college basketball game on CBS (2.9/6, 4.6 mill.). The Duke-UNC rating more than tripled the weak 1.1/2 delivered in the same window last year by Purdue-Michigan, and combined viewing of pro and college basketball opposite NASCAR was up by roughly two and a half million viewers. Fox got a lucky break when the final national rating for the Atlanta race came in a tenth of a point higher than the preliminary rating released on Tuesday, a rare occurrence. Men 18-34 continue to be a trouble spot for NASCAR. Ratings in that demo were down -27% (2.4 vs. 3.3) for the Atlanta race, nearly doubling the overall Household decline. One month into the season, NASCAR racing is being impacted by two disappointing trends on the track: lead changes per race are at an all-time low, while caution flags per race are near an all-time high. The season's first four points races have averaged just 14 lead changes per race. The same races a year ago averaged 30 lead changes. Through four races, NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing on FOX is averaging a 6.7/13 (11.3 million viewers), down -11% from last year's 7.5/14 (12.9 mill.). NASCAR's year-to-year comparison continues to be skewed by rainouts in this year's highly-rated Daytona race and last year's lower-rated Fontana race. While it's easy to focus on the -11% year-to-year skid, it's also important to note that this season's 6.7/13 average is still more than double the rating of the NBA On ABC (2.8/6) and is greater than the combined ratings of the NBA on ABC, NCAA Basketball on CBS, and PGA Golf on all broadcasters (5.8/13 combined).(Fox).

Rathmann, Yunick never forgave or forgot

By KEN WILLIS/news-journalonline.com

 
About a year and a half ago, Jim Rathmann was at Daytona for some sort of luncheon at the Speedway. I was at his table, and wanted so badly to ask the question: "What was the deal with Smokey?"

But this luncheon, while no fine-china and silk-napkin affair, was just nice enough that you wouldn't risk setting off an older man in a room full of people.

This past week, with Rathmann back at the Speedway to watch 1950s-era Indy Roadsters turn laps, the time and place seemed perfect. Few people around, Jim hobbled by 80 years and a bad back. Here goes nothin'.

"What about you and Smokey Yunick?"

Rathmann, who spent much of our little talk staring at the back of the seat in front of him and giving short, quiet answers, grew a tad more animated, but not much. His eyes did take on a clearer look as he raised his glance in my direction.

Thanks to several long-ago conversations, I was quite aware of Smokey's problem with Rathmann. In case it didn't sink in, there was the chapter from Smokey's wild three-part autobiography, released just about the time of Smokey's death in the spring of 2001. In one volume of the three-book set, Smokey detailed the 51 race-car drivers he'd worked with over his career as a builder of stock cars and Indy-cars.

The chapter title: "50 Good Drivers and an (a$@*$@%)."

THE GIVE AND TAKE

Smokey's main gripe involved Rathmann's 1960 Indy 500 win. Rathmann had brought Smokey to the team as chief mechanic, but Smokey always said that by race day, he was actually running the entire show, including pit stops. But when time came to honor the winning crew chief during the following day's awards banquet, the spoils went to Chicky Hiroshima, a veteran crewman who was listed on paper as Rathmann's crew chief.

Smokey said he tried many times to have Rathmann correct the record, but was always rebuffed. Thursday at Daytona, Rathmann avoided specifics and spoke only in generalities. Unsubtle generalities, however.

"Liar," Rathmann said of his old cohort. "I told him that to his face, too. He was a bad guy, you know."

So, as Smokey lived out life in Daytona Beach at his "Best Damn Garage in Town," and Rathmann bought and ran the Melbourne car dealership that still bears his name, the hatchet was never buried, it seems.

Said Rathmann: "He wanted to get along, but I didn't want any part of him."

Oh yeah? Here's what Smokey wrote about Rathmann: "They will have to bury him in waterproof clothes and goggles if I outlive him."

Did Rathmann know Smokey's biggest beef with him?

"I didn't know," said Rathmann, "and I didn't care."

JIM & DICK; DICK & JIM

On a different Rathmann topic, there's the little issue of his Chevy dealership bearing the wrong name all these years. When Jim was a teenager and not old enough to enter certain races, his older brother "loaned" Jim his name (and age, apparently).

That's when Richard Rathmann became Jim, who went on to a productive USAC career -- in addition to his 1960 Indy win, he was runner-up three times. And that's when James Rathmann became Dick, who raced open-wheelers but had more success in NASCAR during the mid '50s -- he won 13 Cup Series races, including three straight in '52.

For the rest of their lives, according to Jim, the two brothers referred to each other by their new names.

"One name is as good as another," said Jim.

Bowles Eye View

Beating And Banging At Its Best: NASCAR’s Five Greatest Bristol Finishes

Thomas Bowles · Frontstretch.com

It’s a question us journalists hear all the time – especially after the three-week swing of racing at Fontana, Las Vegas, and Atlanta. If I had to count up all the random emails in my inbox from fans this month, hidden somewhere in between “Why don’t you treat Junior more fairly” and “you suck because of A, B, and C” is a basic complaint about NASCAR’s “cookie cutter” racing facilities, ending with, “Why can’t the sport build more tracks like the one they have in Bristol?”

I hear you, guys … I hear you loud and clear. No matter what problems we face in the sport these days, the ½-mile track in Thunder Valley is still looked at as one where lightning strikes twice on the Sprint Cup circuit each year. While a repave has changed the type of racing we’ve seen over the past few seasons, Bristol still provides at least a threat of the type of action that’s attracted millions to sit down and get addicted to cars driving “round in circles.” It’s classic, old school NASCAR at its best, where side-by-side racing comes with donuts plastered on the side of the car, and slowpokes learn their lesson in the form of a slam on their rear bumper – one that may or may not turn them into the inside wall. The close competition is usually reflected in the attendance at this race track, with each date earning a sellout every year since 1983.

From a fan’s perspective, I know years before I covered this sport on a regular basis there was one race I’d go through hell and high water not to miss: the Bristol night race. It’s provided some of the fondest memories I’ve ever had of NASCAR, and many others feel the same way – which is why it’s no surprise that after four weeks of disappointing finishes, we’re all looking at this special place and hoping there’s still enough magic to put 2009 back on the right track. Heck, if you remember the last time we came here, there was enough of a fracas over the final 35 laps we got some emotion out of both Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, with Carl’s win coming complete with a near-spin of his Sprint Cup rival en route to taking the lead. The two then made post-race contact that caused the No. 18 to go wild after the checkered flag, spun out by the No. 99 after slamming into the side of his Ford to showcase some obvious displeasure. It was the raw emotion lacking all too often in stock car racing these days, two drivers putting on a show for the fans while not caring about the consequences.

That was hardly the best performance we’ve ever seen at the short track of all short tracks, though. Here’s what I feel like are the top 5 best Bristol performances, all of which deserve their place on the list of all-time greatest NASCAR races. If only we could have one more to add to the pantheon this weekend, maybe – just maybe – all the criticism facing this sport would take a one-week break. For when a race is defined by the close competition that brought NASCAR’s popularity to this point, everything else seems to naturally fade away into the background.

Alright, without further ado, here’s my new list as of Spring 2009 (with the YouTube clips to let you watch them all over again):

1. 1995 Food City 500

Watch It Here

If you don’t get excited over the final ten laps of this race, well … I might have to question your dedication to stock car racing. People remember the finish more than anything else – and rightfully so – but there was so much more that makes this race No. 1. The mood was set from the very first caution, when Dale Earnhardt and perennial Bristol contender Rusty Wallace made contact coming out of turn 4. Wallace ended up hard in the wall, his chances for the win all but dashed and his temper firing out of control. Shaking his finger at Earnhardt under yellow, Wallace would wind up throwing a water bottle at the Intimidator after the race in one of the more infamous post-Bristol clashes in modern history.

In a race that featured 15 cautions for 106 laps after an early rain delay, there was definitely no shortage of action throughout the night. Surprise underdog Jeremy Mayfield was involved in one of the wrecks, leading 55 of the first 107 laps before his No. 98 Ford got swept up in a second half crash that claimed over a half-a-dozen cars on the high banks. That left Earnhardt battling at the front of the field with Dale Jarrett, Terry Labonte, and even 12-time winner Darrell Waltrip. As the laps wound down, Labonte seemed to have the race in control, building up a healthy lead after passing Jarrett to get back up front on Lap 432. But Earnhardt charged up behind him, passing Jarrett for second and slowly cutting into the edge of the No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevy as the laps wound down. Still, with five laps to go the advantage was a healthy 1.3 seconds, good enough for Labonte to seemingly cruise to victory.

Or so he thought.

Coming up on the lead lap cars of Jeff Burton and Mike Wallace, Labonte got stuck behind the two men battling for position at about the two laps to go mark. Earnhardt quickly seized the moment, closing dramatically on the leader and getting to Labonte’s back bumper on the backstretch of the white flag lap. Turning right, turning left, Earnhardt tried everything going through turns 3 and 4, but in a matter of seconds realized that even the best of runs on the inside was going to come up short.

So, the man they called the Intimidator made a split-second decision to do what he did best in those days: make sure the man in front of him got out of his way. Tapping Labonte’s back bumper just enough, the No. 3 sent the No. 5 sideways heading into the frontstretch, giving him what he hoped would be enough momentum to sneak up to the front.

But Earnhardt’s plan came with one slight problem: he didn’t know which way Labonte’s car was going to spin out. Turning left, then turning right and eventually slamming the wall by the start / finish line, Labonte’s uncertain angle led to just enough hesitation from Earnhardt to let the No. 5 take the checkered flag ahead of him. It was a rare moment where the seven-time champion’s aggressive moves still weren’t enough; and for millions of fans at the time that saw Earnhardt as “evil,” it was the one time out of 1,000 where they could say with certainty the good guy won.

14 years later, it’s hard to find a fan on both sides of that battle who doesn’t look back in amazement. Labonte’s car rolled into Victory Lane with a busted radiator and a chassis for the scrap heap – but in so many ways, it felt like the perfect way to win at a track notorious for turning race cars into a pile of mush.

2. 1999 Bristol Night Race

Watch It Here

Four years later, it was Labonte-Earnhardt Part II in what would turn out to be the Intimidator’s final Bristol win. In a race that featured just 11 lead changes, it wasn’t exactly the thrilling action fans expected at times during the event – but the final five laps more than made up for it. Earnhardt had the lead following the 10th and final caution flag of the race, but had his hands full on the restart holding off others who’d dove down pit road for fresh rubber. Labonte was the first car who’d taken on four fresh tires, and he took no time jumping from fifth to second in just three short laps. Heading to the white flag, he seemed to have Earnhardt cleared, too … until the two charged down into turn 1 one last time.

It was then where Earnhardt chose to Intimidate once more … but this time, he left nothing to chance. With one firm tap on the rear bumper, Labonte went spinning and took virtually all lead lap cars along with him, his No. 5 going from primetime performer to pinball on the backstretch in the matter of just a few seconds. Earnhardt almost slowed up enough after that to let Jimmy Spencer slip by and snag the win, but he held on to take the checkered flag and enter Victory Lane amongst a shower of boos.

What was Earnhardt’s interpretation of that fairly obvious spin? “I just wanted to rattle his cage a bit.” It was a quote played on news stations across the country, one that not only outraged millions of NASCAR fans but turned millions more casual ones on to a sport that pulled so much action and drama from their Saturday night special. To this day, many believe Earnhardt should have been stripped of the win … but looking at how NASCAR is so tightly patrolled in certain situations today, you wonder what would have happened if that wish had actually been granted back in ‘99.

3. 1990 Valleydale Meats 500

Watch It Here

While slightly before my time (after all, I was just nine years old) this race appears to be the one which began putting Bristol on the national map as one of the sport’s best racetracks. Early on, it didn’t look like there’d be a scintillating finish, as a new sealer on the pavement wrecked havoc with the driving style of all the sport’s top drivers. Even Dale Earnhardt was among those who spun early on, slumping to a 19th place finish some 49 laps off the lead pack.

But while the race featured just 11 lead changes, the final 10 miles came down to a fierce, four-way battle to the end between Davey Allison, Mark Martin, Sterling Marlin, and Ricky Rudd which made you forget about all that early mess. Lap after lap, the four cars did battle inches apart, getting side-by-side with each other while unable to make a clean pass for position at the same time. Finally, on the white flag lap fourth-place Ricky Rudd spun Marlin down the backstretch, opening up some breathing room for the top two of Martin and Allison. Martin’s No. 6 car charged hard through turns three and four, sticking his Ford right down the white line and pushing his car up towards Allison’s driver-side door. Down the front straightaway they came, Martin’s momentum pulling him up alongside the No. 28 car in a matter of seconds … leaving them in a photo finish at the line.

When officials took a second look, it was Allison in front at the checkered flag … but only by a grand total of about eight inches. It stands as one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history to this day; and most importantly, both men raced clean at a race track that’s known for doing whatever it takes to win. Just goes to show you that not every race here needs to be contested by pounding someone else’s back bumper…

Also of note from this weekend, Ernie Irvan won his first pole with Morgan-McClure’s No. 4, an outfit in which he’d end up winning the Daytona 500 and half-a-dozen other races in just under four years with the team. Leading 16 laps, it was the first glimpse of what we’d see from what would become one of the sport’s best drivers of the 1990s.

4. 2002 Sharpie 500

Watch It Here

While Jeff Gordon’s winless streak is the talk of the town these days, it isn’t the only drought he’s had in his legendary career. In 2002, the 15-year vet was going through an ugly divorce that may have arguably translated into his on-track performance — heading into the Bristol Night Race, the No. 24 team was fifth in points but hadn’t visited Victory Lane in almost a year. But Gordon wasn’t the only big name who had been struggling over the course of the season. Bristol King Rusty Wallace hadn’t won since the California race in the Spring of 2001, enduring a season-long slump while going public on a tumultuous relationship with soon-to-be former teammate Jeremy Mayfield.

Both men had been looking forward to the August night race to cure what ailed them, and as the race unfolded, it was clear each had a car capable of running up front. The 500 laps weren’t always pretty throughout (just 10 lead changes, similar to the 1990 race described above), but when push came to shove, those two did battle in a finish most everyone remembers. As the laps wound down, you could sense the desperation coming from two men needing a win to solve their problems – and who were willing to do just about anything to push the issue and make it to Victory Lane.

With Wallace in first but unable to pull far enough from Gordon during the final five laps, it was the Rainbow Warrior who chose the common denominator defining so many of these great Bristol finishes: the bump and run. Laying the chrome horn on Wallace with two laps left, Gordon slipped in front and wound up coasting to the checkered flag in the August night race. Afterwards, he was greeted with a shower of boos – remember, at that time Gordon was looked at as the Jimmie Johnson of our sport – in what may have been one of the most unpopular wins he’d had throughout his entire Cup career.

But what really hits me about this race, looking back, is the momentum it sapped out of Rusty Wallace. It would be another year and a half before the No. 2 car visited Victory Lane again, and he’d win just one more time before hanging up the helmet for good in 2005. His final six starts at Bristol were defined by cars that also faded at the finish – he led 340 more laps at his favorite track, but wound up in the top 5 only twice.

5. 2002 Food City 500

Watch It Here

In the 1980s, Bristol belonged to Darrell Waltrip. In the 1990s, it was Rusty Wallace and – for a time – Jeff Gordon. But this decade, no man has won more at the famed half-mile in Thunder Valley than Kurt Busch. Now driving the famed No. 2 that Wallace took to wins so many times in Tennessee, Busch is looked at as the number one threat here if he’s got a car capable of contending for 500 laps.

It all started back in 2002, when the then 23-year-old collected his first Cup victory during the Spring race. Passing Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for the lead on lap 411, Busch had to hold off a determined challenge from Jimmy Spencer over the final 89 laps. At one point, Spencer appeared to get the better of the young driver, taking the lead on Lap 444. But Busch responded with a rough tap on the rear bumper, sending Spencer to second and forcing him to eventually settle for a runner-up finish. While Busch was ecstatic that day, it was a move Spencer would never forget, starting up a rivalry that would eventually lead to multiple intentional spinouts over the next 18 months. The feud wouldn’t end until Michigan in August of 2003, with Kurt Busch getting punched inside his race car 1 ½ years later by Spencer after the two traded barbs on the race track. It was a move that, in a touch of irony, would wind up getting Spencer suspended for the race he always enjoyed the most – the Bristol night race in August.

But perhaps the most important thing was that a rivalry was started to begin with. Too often these days, everyone in the garage finds everyone else just too likable, a politically correct world that leaves fans unabashedly fighting the current establishment. As these five races show us, a little bit of fierce competition never hurt anyone – and back in the day, no one cared about hurting anyone else’s feelings. One can only hope that in the Spring of 2009, we can have one of those memorable races again – the one which brings fans to their feet and cheering from their couch instead of turning off their TV set in disgust.

Let’s cross our fingers.

Remembering Jake

by Darrell Waltrip/foxsports.com

Folks, the third annual Legends Helping Legends banquet was held Saturday at Memory Lane Motorsports and Automotive Museum in Mooresville, N.C. It was held to honor and help raise funds for someone who in my mind is probably one of the truest definitions of crew chiefs that I have ever known, Jake Elder.

Jake sure knew how to work on a race car. He wouldn't fit the model of a crew chief today, but trust me, back in the day when I was getting started he was the absolute master of setting up a race car. Elder, Robert Gee, Dale Inman and Harry Hyde were those hands-on type of crew chiefs who knew everything there was to know about building and setting cars up to race.

Those guys back then were pure mechanics. They weren't like the guys today. I call the guys today R&R mechanics — remove and replace. That's pretty much how they do things nowadays, you remove something and replace it with something new. Guys back in the day, like Jake, knew how to fix things and make them work. They did it by experience and common knowledge. They were so smart and they made this sport what it is today by building our platform.

When you hear all this talk about the NASCAR Hall of Fame and who should or shouldn't be inducted, the crew chief category is one that I think definitely needs to be considered and Jake needs to be at the top of the list. Jake Elder made me, Dale Earnhardt Sr, Terry Labonte and others who we are. The thing that Jake could do for all of us young inexperienced drivers was give us a car that drove and handled right. Once you show a young driver how something is supposed to work and feel, he will never forget it. That's what Jake always told me. Once you educate a driver on the right way of things, then he will always keep searching for it and not be happy until he finds it. He taught all of us what to look for and that education was priceless.

Jake always had a theory: It was "we might get out-run, but we aren't going to get out-worked." A lot of the things I still apply today to different areas of my life, I learned from Jake. He was and is a great guy.

The irony is that Jake was with me when I won my first NASCAR Cup race and Jake was with me when I won my last NASCAR Cup race. My first Cup win was during Mothers Day weekend at Nashville in 1975 and Jake was there. He was with me when I won my last race, the Southern 500 in Darlington in 1992.

Jake moved around a lot. He wasn't with me throughout my entire career. That's how he got the nickname "Suitcase Jake." He would work for me some and then maybe he'd go work for Earnhardt and then he would move on to work for someone else.

The other great thing about Jake was he was loyal. He was always there when you needed him. All you had to do was call and tell him you needed his help and he would be on your doorstep the next morning with his toolbox. Jake is, what a friend of mine used to say, one to a box. There will never be another Jake Elder.

Jake was a loner. He liked to do everything himself. He would work himself to death working on the car by himself. He didn't really trust anybody else to do it right. He knew if he did it then it was done right. Unfortunately, Jake had a hard time training people how to work with him. Jake would just as soon run someone off as opposed to taking the time to show them how to do something.

The thing that Jake was most proud of, and he would constantly remind me, I never had anything fall off my race car. I never got knocked out of a race because something broke or fell off the car. That was due to Jake and he took great pride in that.

I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on Jake. He is in a nursing home in Mooresville. Sadly, Alzheimer's has robbed Jake most of the great memories he has. His sister looks after him. Thank goodness for sisters — and trust me, I speak from experience. Jake doesn't have a lot of family. Sadly his son Randy, who worked for me when I had my own team in the early '90's, died suddenly from a heart attack last year.

I honestly never thought Jake would end up in a nursing home. Jeff Hammond, Larry McReynolds and I went to visit him last year. Alzheimer's is a disgusting disease. It has hit my relatives and families of my friends and employees. It's especially sad when it hits someone like Jake. He never was one for keeping notes. He just never was big on writing things down. He did everything from memory and kept things in his head. To be robbed of your memory as Jake has is so sad. He accomplished so many great things in his life. But the one sweet thing he does have is pictures. His friends and family have brought pictures and put up on the walls in his room. Jeff, Larry and I dug out some of our favorites with Jake and put them up in his room too.

So when you get a spare moment, pray for Jake Elder. Pray that he is well taken care of. He was a great crew chief. I couldn't have accomplished probably half the things I did if I hadn't had him working on my race cars.

Celebrating Tim Richmond With a Race

Kelly Crandall/bleacherreport.com

There was a time when Tim Richmond was NASCAR's Playboy. He was young, good looking and could drive the wheels off a race car.

Had he not passed away, many say he would have won a lot more races and multiple championships.

Richmond started racing in NASCAR in 1981 and was in the winner’s circle for the first time a year later at Riverside, beating Terry Labonte. He went on to complete the sweep by winning the season ending race that was held there as well.

In 1983, now with a new team, Richmond won his first of four races at the Pocono Raceway.

Then in 1986 he signed with Hendrick Motorsports and drove the No. 25 Folgers Coffee car, an image that is synonymous with Tim Richmond.

He went out and won two more races at Pocono and a total of seven races that year along with eight poles. However, late year misfortunes ended his year third in the final point standings. Just six points out of second.

Things were looking up, the team was in place and Richmond was rising to the top.

However, a year later things took a turn for the race.

Having been diagnosed with HIV, even though the racing world was told that he had pneumonia, he was unable to race in the early part of the season.

Except, he was able to make a return at a track that he was unstoppable on: Pocono.

Richmond was able to out run Bill Elliott to the checkered flag, one that he said he never saw because of the tears in his eyes. And the following week, he would hold off Ricky Rudd for his final Winston Cup Series win at Riverside.

Richmond did try to race again, in what is now the Nationwide Series opener at Daytona, but rumors were started saying he was a drug user. When NASCAR began doing drug tests, Richmond stopped taking his medications for HIV in order to pass the test.

Ironically, NASCAR suspended Richmond just days later for what they said was testing positive for a banned substance. It later turned out that it was just cold medicine.

Even after Richmond passed his second test, NASCAR wouldn't let him race unless he turned over his medical records.

He was unable to find a ride for the race and hired a plane to fly over the track with a banner reading "Fans I miss you-Tim Richmond."

Richmond passed away a year later on August 13, 1989 in Florida.

Now, 20 years later the ARCA RE/MAX Series will be paying tribute to Tim Richmond when they race at Mansfield Motorsports Park in Ohio.

The race will be the Tim Richmond Memorial ARCA RE/MAX 250.

"Tim Richmond won the 1981 ARCA 200 at Daytona, and he won in supermodifieds at our Toledo Speedway track," said ARCA President Ron Drager. "We're proud to have played a role in the development of Tim's amazing racing career, and we look forward to helping make the inaugural Tim Richmond Memorial ARCA RE/MAX 200 at Mansfield a success."

Richmond does have a win in the Series, he won Daytona in his first ever ARCA start. He is also a past Rookie of the Year for the Indianapolis 500.

"I believe it is time to share his memory with new fans and give his still-existent fan base an opportunity to remember many of his great and precious moments," said Sandy Welsh, Richmond's sister.
"This celebration will also provide us the opportunity to draw attention to AIDS, the disease that cut Tim's life short, and assist those that are suffering from this cruel disease. We want to do what we can to motivate the discovery of a cure for AIDS and give Tim's life even more meaning."

The race will be run on June 20.

The day Pearson and Stewart talked Darlington in the desert

Monte Dutton/ nascar.rbma.com

(From Monte Dutton's 2006 book Haul A** and Turn Left: The Wit and Wisdom of NASCAR. Reprinted with the author's permission)

On a sunny afternoon in the garage area of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, ex-champions David Pearson and Tony Stewart got to know each other.
At the time, Pearson was 70 years old, Stewart 33. Pearson's last championship occurred in 1969, when what is now Nextel Cup was referred to as Grand National and there were no races in Las Vegas.
Perhaps more than any of his contemporaries, though, Stewart is a throwback to the days when dinosaurs named Pearson, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison ruled the earth. Earth, at the time, mainly consisted of the South.
Pearson, who won 105 races, was leisurely strolling around with another notable resident of Spartanburg, South Carolina, former car owner and ace mechanic Walter "Bud" Moore. As luck would have it, they happened to be in front of the stall where Stewart's No. 20 Chevrolet rested, shortly after the end of a practice session and as Stewart was climbing out of his orange car.
"Do you know Tony Stewart?" I asked Pearson.
"I've met him," he said. "I don't know him. I know he can sure enough drive a race car."
"I think you'd like him," I said. "Hang on a minute."
I then walked over in front of the car, where Stewart was discussing various matters of technical significance with his crew chief, Greg Zipadelli.
"David Pearson's out there," I said to Stewart. "Want to say hello?"
"Give me a minute," said Stewart.
I walked back out and started talking with Moore, about whose teams I used to write, and Pearson, the hero of my youth. The topic was familiar: how much times have changed, how not all the changes have been for the best, how much all the cars are just alike, etc. It was the kind of conversation oldtimers have regardless of whether they're athletes or shoe salesmen.
Pearson looks as if he could climb right back into a stock car and run five hundred miles. He seems far more robust than a man who underwent open-heart surgery a few years back. He has the same barrel chest and broad shoulders he boasted when he was winning 11 races in 18 tries in 1973.
After a few minutes of chitchat, though, the proud ex-champion was getting a little restless. With a small sense of urgency, I excused myself and returned to the garage stall, where Stewart had been intercepted by someone else.
"Hey, Tony," I said, "the best stock-car racer who ever lived is out there, and I don't think I'd make him wait much longer."
Stewart looked up. "Don't let him get away," he said. "I'll be right there."
Thirty seconds may have passed before Stewart strode out into the desert sunshine.
"Hey," he said, shaking Pearson's hand, "I need you to drive my car for me at Darlington. I ain't worth a damn at that track."
Pearson didn't flinch. "All you got to do is drive that thing as high on the track as you can get it," he said.
"That's what I'm doing," Stewart said, smiling.
"You ought to have driven it when it was hard," replied Pearson, who won there a record ten times. "It's easy now."
By this time, a small army of photographers had descended, snapping what must have been hundreds of shots as another writer and I ducked out. I felt like saying, "Hey, guys, you're welcome."
After a reasonable period of "photo ops" taken while they chatted, Stewart and Pearson walked over to the Joe Gibbs Racing transporter and went inside to chat a while longer. Pearson came out with an autographed photo for his grandson, aptly named David.
Say what you want about Stewart, but he is nothing if not mindful of the past and respectful of its heroes. At any given time that he isn't embroiled in high-level discussions on just how he's going to manage to win the next race, a visit to Stewart's transporter will find him talking shop with a Red Farmer or a Donnie Allison. Stewart feels at home in the company of the hardscrabble men who preceded him.
No one needs to remind Pearson of how great he was. He's a proud man, but he's not one to elaborate on his great works and deeds. Pearson grew up in a textile-mill village, and when he rose to prominence, he knew well the feeling of being looked down upon by the society folks. I wasn't kidding when I told Stewart he was the best stock-car racer ever to strap on a helmet. That's my opinion and it's unlikely to change.

Can Dale Earnhardt Jr. win a title? Yes. Will he? Uhhh…

By Steve Waid/scenedaily.com

It seems NASCAR fans, and media, have split into two camps – one that believes Dale Earnhardt Jr. can win a championship and another that insists he cannot.

Why is Earnhardt Jr. the subject here and not any one of several other drivers? Simple. It’s his heritage. He’s the son of one of the most revered and successful competitors in NASCAR’s history. Much is expected of him.

When Dale Earnhardt died tragically in 2001 many of his legions of fans transferred their loyalty to his son. At the time, he was a driver with great promise, who had already won two Busch Series championships and seemed to have his father’s competitive zeal – especially in restrictor-plate races.

Earnhardt Jr. enjoyed a modicum of success with Dale Earnhardt Inc., but he felt that the team wasn’t headed in the direction he wanted. He believed that would change only if he became majority owner.

As you know, that never happened and thus, Earnhardt Jr. departed and joined powerful Hendrick Motorsports. It was the team with which, he said, he stood the best chance of winning races and championships.

Among the Junior Nation, anticipation soared.

But for some it has dwindled rapidly.

Earnhardt Jr. has won only once in 40 starts with Hendrick.

He’s qualified worse than teammates Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Casey Mears in all four races this season.

His best finish has been 10th at Las Vegas. He’s 24th in the points standings.

Earnhardt Jr.’s first season with Hendrick (one win, 12th in points) was at least acceptable because it was a period of adaptation and adjustment.

That’s not the case this season.

Several reasons why Earnhardt Jr. has not reached the achievement level expected of him have been voiced.

Among them:

He’s not focused. He has far too many outside interests that absorb his time and attention. They include his television shows, his broadcast production company, his JR Motorsports Nationwide Series team, his DEJ Realty firm (with the housing market bottoming out, it doesn’t seem to be a good time to be in real estate), his Whisky River nightclub - and more.

He’s being pulled in so many directions it distracts from racing.

And then there’s Tony Eury Jr., the crew chief.

It’s been said – often, by the way – that he’s the root of the problem. He’s a capable pit boss, but not with Earnhardt Jr., his cousin.

In the past, Eury Jr. has been criticized for making adjustments during a race that made Earnhardt Jr.’s car worse rather than better.

This year, there have been bad breaks. Sure, Earnhardt Jr. didn’t have his head in the game at Daytona, but then, there was an engine problem at California and the lost lap at Atlanta - after a green-flag pit stop – when the yellow flag flew after JTG Daugherty crewman Jimmy Watts decided to dash into the front infield to retrieve an errant tire.

But the numbers – two wins in 116 races under Eury Jr.’s watch – enforce the critics’ belief that Earnhardt Jr. might be better off with a new crew chief.

Heck, changing crew chiefs happens often. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But many say that the time for it to happen for Earnhardt Jr. has come.

When it comes to his interests outside racing, it’s likely Earnhardt Jr. will say he’s no different than the majority of drivers with similar entrepreneurial outlets. It’s all a matter of investing and establishing a future when racing comes to an end.

“I’ve got to do something to be ready for the time when I quit racing,” Earnhardt Jr. once told me.

But when it comes to competition, nothing can push the desire and focus aside. Earnhardt Jr. would likely – very likely - say that the fire within him still burns and will for years to come.

As for Eury Jr., he’s heard all the critics and ignores them. He knows he could be a successful crew chief with another driver, but he doesn’t want to leave his cousin.

Nor does Earnhardt Jr. want him to. He once said he’d rather finish 10th in every race with a relative than win with a stranger.

So it appears a split isn’t about to happen any time soon.

A reversal of fortune might silence the critics, at least for a while. It could happen as quickly as Bristol this weekend, where an Earnhardt Jr. victory would act like a soothing balm on a rash.

Can Earnhardt Jr. win a championship?

Of course he can.

The question is, will he?

If it’s to be this year, his task will be arduous. First he must make the Chase For The Sprint Cup.

Let’s leave it at that and see what happens.

Five Points To Ponder

Off-Weekend Edition

Bryan Davis Keith· Frontstretch.com

Mike Lovecchio · Frontstretch.com

How’s Jimmy Fennig’s Job Security?

Four races into 2009, it’s safe to say that David Ragan’s season has been among the biggest disappointments on the track thus far (sans Mark Martin). The Cup circuit’s most improved driver in 2008 has struggled since a top 10 in the rain-shortened Daytona 500, with no top 10s and a DNF despite having Roush Fenway Racing’s vaunted intermediate package underneath him. Sitting 22nd in points, Ragan’s certainly not where many thought he would be in 2009, but surely a mediocre stretch of four races couldn’t be enough to threaten the job of crew chief Jimmy Fennig? Right?

In a report in ESPN Insider, a rumor was denied that RFR had replaced the entire crew of the No. 6 team following the race weekend at Atlanta. Instead, the organization had professed confidence in the team, led by the same crew chief that won the 2004 Sprint Cup with Kurt Busch at the helm.

So why question Fennig’s job security? It’s simple… if there was nothing for Fennig to worry about, there wouldn’t be rumors of crew replacement this early in the season. More so than probably any owner in the garage, Jack Roush has proven time and time again that he can and will move crew chiefs around — quickly and at will — if he feels something isn’t working. Just ask Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray.

Fennig will be on the No. 6 pit box for Bristol, barring something unforeseen. But if Ragan doesn’t start a push back towards the top 12 in the very near future, we may well see another new face on the UPS war wagon in the next few weeks.

Ricky Carmichael… The Real Deal?

J.R. Fitzpatrick has been the overachiever of record in the Camping World Truck Series so far in 2009, but right on the young Canadian’s heels is Kevin Harvick Incorporated’s new development project, Ricky Carmichael. The former motocross superstar turned stock car racer was solid, not spectacular, in the Camping World East Series in 2008, but his Truck outings thus far in 2009 have taken even owner Kevin Harvick by surprise.

 “He’s kind of sent us in a tailspin, to be honest with you, because he’s done so well,” said Harvick of the rookie’s early season performance. It’s a turn of events that has KHI scrambling to find sponsorship for Carmichael to contest a full schedule (he was originally scheduled to do 14 races in 2009).

Getting Carmichael a full-time shot seems to be a no brainer. Obviously, the AMA convert is still learning stock cars, but the benefits of running for points and across all tracks rather than a select slate are significant in terms of garnering experience for development drivers. And from what Carmichael has done behind the wheel of the No. 4 thus far, it’s hard to find any reason not to run the guy full-time.

But while KHI searches for sponsor dollars and the hype builds for this prospect, it’s important to take a step back. Carmichael has run very well at both Fontana and Atlanta, larger race tracks that while fast, offer wide space to race as well as a chance for KHI’s superior equipment to really shine. The driver has yet to tackle the bullring of Martinsville or the high banks of Dover, tracks that will likely be much more of an adjustment for him rather than those intermediate ovals.

Still, the stage being set here is an interesting one. Will Carmichael continue to defy the expectations of nearly everyone in the motorsports community, including myself, or will Martinsville and some of the rougher venues to follow knock some sense into this rookie? Either way, Carmichael’s looking to be as compelling a story on four wheels as he was on two.

What’s Kvapil To Do?

Travis Kvapil has got to be wondering just what in the world he can do to catch a break in his Cup career. He won the 2003 Truck title, only to lose his ride to Jack Sprague. He made it to Cup in 2005, only to get dumped after one season unceremoniously by Penske Racing. From there, he went to Cal Wells’ besieged PPI Motorsports operation, only to see the team shut down after just one year behind the wheel.

After a stellar run in a Roush Racing truck in 2007 that saw the Wisconsin driver post four wins, Kvapil seemed to have finally found a home at Yates Racing. Patching sponsorship together as the season progressed, Kvapil scored a number of top 10s, a pole at Talladega, and became the team leader in a season that saw the No. 28 take noticeable strides back towards competitiveness.

And yet, less than six months later as we approach Bristol, Kvapil’s tenure with Yates Racing may well be over.

We’ve heard the story of Yates Racing for 2009 a million times already… Paul Menard’s sponsor dollars trumped driver talent and performance in Kvapil’s case. What needs to be pondered is how steadfastly Yates Racing has said that after Bristol, without sponsorship they won’t continue to run the No. 28 — in fact, saying that the team will close for the duration of 2009.

This is coming from the same team that campaigned two cars without full-time sponsorship all of last season. Sure, the economy is tough, but with Menards and Ask.com on board for Bobby Labonte, there’s money in the Yates camp again. So how, exactly, can a team that spent so much out of pocket to keep going last year now justify closing the purse strings to send their “A” driver of only a season ago packing?

It just doesn’t make sense.

All-Star Race Format Changed… Again

No details have been released, but after being much maligned by fans and drivers alike last season, this year’s 25th anniversary edition of the All-Star Race will have another new format, one that will be “exciting for the fans,” according to Lowe’s Motor Speedway President Marcus Smith.

Here’s a Point To Ponder… how can making the All-Star race entertaining be so difficult? The best drivers in the sport are there, and no points are on the line — with a million dollars at stake for the winner. To top all that, the race is supposed to resemble a feature, much like the ones that scores of short tracks across the United States put on every weekend — and put on well.

Honestly, how is this difficult?

See You In Kentucky… In 2010

Here’s a not so fearless projection for you… after lawsuits, countless pleas, and Bruton Smith’s purchase of the facility, Kentucky Speedway will have a Sprint Cup race on its docket for 2010.

OK, there’s not much to ponder here. Just put the pieces together: Bruton Smith did not buy Kentucky Speedway to continue their admirable trend of selling out Nationwide Series races, but to bring Cup racing to the Sparta venue. And with Auto Club Speedway having posted an (albeit modest) attendance boost with their first race of the 2009 season, there’s really not an ISC track that is in danger of losing a date on the current Cup slate next year.

On the other hand, after seeing maybe 70,000 fans half-fill the grandstands at Atlanta Motor Speedway despite perfect weather for a large walk-up crowd and a hard marketing push in the weeks prior to the Kobalt Tools 500, Smith and SMI now find themselves in possession of the Cup date that most logically would be up for replacement in 2010. And while Smith stated in Atlanta on March 6 that he has not yet requested that NASCAR look into a schedule realignment for 2010, SMI’s annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission requested just that.

Where there is something to ponder is how Smith is going to get his way and get Kentucky a race. The lawsuit that the track’s previous ownership group filed against ISC and SMI for conspiring to prevent independent tracks from obtaining Cup race dates is still pending, and Brian France has said publicly that NASCAR won’t be racing there until it is resolved. Smith, however, knew this when he bought the facility, yet has done nothing with the track’s former owners to resolve the suit.

So, the question is this: Will Bruton play nice with the previous Kentucky Speedway gang and persuade them to pull out of the courthouses? Or will we see the master of NASCAR chess, the same man who threatened to pull racing from Bristol and to completely abandon Lowe’s Motor Speedway, take it to the Brian in his pursuit of a Kentucky Cup race?

Pop some corn folks, this one could get good.

Well, that's all for today.  Until the next time, I remain,

Your Nascar Momma

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

his list is authored by:

Sandra Monacelli
221 W. 57th Street 18B
Loveland, CO  80538
970/663-6967