Happy Monday all. 

Today In Nascar History

April 6, 1952: Dick Rathmann wins his first Cup race, a 200-miler on the half-mile dirt track at Martinsville. Rathmann leads 20 laps and wins by 5 seconds over Bill Blair, the only other driver on the lead lap. They have a lot of room to race in the latter part of the race: Only eight of the 22 cars are running at the end.

Bits and Pieces

The Comcast Cup? Will Comcast buy Sprint? "As telco giants AT&T and Verizon move deeper into the TV business, cable giants like Comcast may have to get into the wireless business to compete. That could eventually involve Comcast buying Sprint Nextel, the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier," writes Silicon Alley Insider. Comcast and Sprint are backing the Clearwire 4G wireless network, and its WiMax system. If Clearwire doesn't connect, and cash-rich Comcast decides it's easier to buy than build, "the most logical deal could be for Sprint, which currently has a $12 billion market cap," Insider says. "It's not a new idea. But it could make sense in the next few years." Citing a report from Pali Research, the article quotes Comcast CEO Brian Roberts at the annual cable show in Washington yesterday: “Wireless is a conundrum for the cable industry... AT&T and Verizon... are the super elephants. They’ve got all the market share..." He "avoided a clear answer to the question as to whether Clearwire was Comcast’s sole wireless strategy."(Philly.com)

Two teams could be missing from Phoenix: on SPEEDtv's SPEED Report, Bob Dilner reported that two Sprint Cup teams could be missing at Phoenix on the weekend on April 17-18th. #8-Aric Almirola [the team plans to meet about the future of the #8 on Tuesday, Aprl 7th] and the #71 TRG Motorsports team that David Gilliland drives. Gilliland said the team needs a sponsor to continue on.

Smith Continues DNF Streak: Regan Smith finished 31st in Sunday's Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. It was the third race of the season for Smith and the #78 Furniture Row Racing team, which is competing part-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Though the Denver-Colo.-based team was slightly off its previous two performances of 21st (Daytona 500) and 19th (Las Vegas), Smith continued his impressive streak of running at the finish. He has finished every one of his 44 career Cup starts, dating back to the 2007 season. Smith and the #78 team are looking forward to the next Cup race -- April 18 at the one-mile Phoenix International Raceway. "We had two good test sessions at the one-mile Pikes Peak International Raceway, which has similarities to Phoenix," noted the 25-year-old Smith. "You never know in this business, but the gut feeling around this team is that we're going to be better in Phoenix." The Phoenix event is part of the team's current 13-race Sprint Cup schedule.(DMF Communications PR)

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the Samsung 500:
Total race brdcst time 165 Total comm. brdcst time 58
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 2:00 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 5:43 PM
Total number of commercials: 133
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 72
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 89
Total minutes: 223
Minutes of race broadcast: 165
Minutes of commercials: 58
Number of missed restarts: 0
Number of ‘mystery cautions’: 1 debris was mentioned, but not shown
Animated Digger shots: 10
Still Digger shots: 17

Did Not Finish Streak and stats: #33-Bowyer has been running at the finish in 80 consecutive races, the longest current streak, only 1 race behind the modern era record of #29-Harvick who had 81 until DNFing at California in Feb 2009, next up is #78-Regan Smith at 44 [but has not run all the races] and then #48-Johnson at 31 consecutive races. The all-time record for the longest streak of NOT having an DNF is 84 races held by Herman Beam from April 30, 1961 thru March 10, 1963 [Beam didn't run all the races, but didn't DNF in 84 straight consecutive races that he ran]. Kevin Harvick holds the modern era (1972-present) record at 81 [he also has the 3rd longest at 58], then Jeff Gordon at 56 and Dale Earnhardt at 53 [Indy in 1996 thru Martinsville in the spring of 1998.

Tire test at New Hampshire: there is a scheduled Goodyear Tire Test at New Hampshire on Tues. and Wed. this week [April 7-8], with drivers scheduled being: #24-Jeff Gordon (Chevy); #18-Kyle Busch (Toyota), #6-David Ragan (Ford) and #12-David Stremme (Dodge)

Allmendingers schedule to get longer: Richard Petty Motorsports is close to extending #44-A.J. Allmendinger's schedule beyond the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24. "If you had told me last year that I'd be 15th in points right now, I would have laughed at you," Allmendinger said. "But we're in striking distance of the top 12." With Allmendinger so close to the top 12 in points, RPM needs to decide whether it is committed to moving forward with the driver and the team before another organization snatches him up. According to multiple sources, Joe Gibbs Racing has already inquired about the driver's status. While RPM is currently securing additional sponsorship (potentially with Hunt Brothers Pizza) nothing will guarantee Allmendinger and the #44 Dodge's success faster than a revamped pit crew. Allmendinger inevitably loses positions every time he enters pit road. RPM has an Aug. 15 deadline to pick up Allmendinger's option for 2010.(FoxSports)

NASCAR no plans on keeping radio chatter from fans: Radio transmissions between drivers, owners, spotters and crew chiefs will continue to be available to NASCAR, media and fans. Flak over a torrid exchange between #2-Kurt Busch and car owner Roger Penske last Sunday at Martinsville -- in which Busch called his owner "dude" -- evoked a familiar refrain on Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. "The radio, I always thought, has been a team tool that should be utilized just by the teams," Busch said. "We don't get to hear what the coach says to his offensive and defensive coordinators in the NFL. I don't think that we get to hear what they do in baseball when they call to the bullpen. You don't get to hear what they say in the huddle, and what they say in the huddle is pretty animated. Roger and I are on the same page. Martinsville is behind us." That may be, but NASCAR isn't about to budge when it comes to keeping the airwaves open.
"The more access we can give the fans, that's a part of what made NASCAR what it is, the accessibility of the drivers," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications. "In my opinion, drivers -- even in the heat of battle -- need to be able to control their emotions. They're driving a racecar around at 200 miles an hour with a bunch of other people. NASCAR needs to be able to hear what's going on with the teams during a race, and we've extended that to the fans."(Sporting News)

Penske to Toyota? doubtful: Speculation mounts that some Dodge teams may be looking to bolt, depending on how the Washington-Detroit-Chrysler-Fiat talks go. Most prominent in the speculation is that Roger Penske, who is one of the nation's biggest Toyota dealers, may move Kurt Busch's Dodge team, which just won at Atlanta, into the Toyota camp. A Penske-Toyota-NASCAR scenario has been bandied about for several years. There was no immediate comment from officials at Chrysler, but Toyota racing boss Lee White said "Unless RP [Roger Penske] has resorted to secretly stealing our parts, there is not chance he's running anything remotely resembling a Toyota in the foreseeable future. It's just another of many false rumors."(mikemulhern.net)

If #8 team closes, Truex could be free agent...to Gibbs? UPDATE Bass Pro Shops not leaving: The buzz in the garage has Earnhardt Ganassi Racing shutting down the #8 Chevy and sidelining Aric Almirola after this weekend if a sponsor doesn't magically appear. If that happens, three contracts are affected: #1-Martin Truex Jr., Bass Pro Shops Racing and Chevy. Truex's contract states that he must have two teammates or he can leave the team. Bass Pro Shops has a performance clause and with Truex 28th in owner points, the #1 team is in a precarious position. Finally, Chevy can alter its support to EGR if three teams are not under the roof. The hot rumor at Martinsville last week had Truex replacing Joey Logano in the #20 Home Depot Toyota. Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs insisted Sunday and again by phone on Wednesday that "Joey's our guy. We haven't had any conversations with anyone," Gibbs said. "We'd like to have someone in line by summer time, but you have to sit down, look at what partner is available, what driver is available and who would be a good fit for the team. We had [#96] Hall of Fame last year and we don't have it now. So we have room for a fourth team. We'd love to have it."
Gibbs mentioned JGR's plans to run the #02 Farm Bureau Toyota to race later this season. An announcement was made in January that Farm Bureau Insurance was signed for six Cup races in 2009, including being the primary sponsor for two Cup races on Denny Hamlin's car at Darlington and Atlanta and on Logano's car at Martinsville. A fourth team will feature Farm Bureau as the title sponsor for the fall races at LMS, Texas and Homestead. Gibbs did not believe Farm Bureau was committed to a level where it could expand as a full-time sponsor in 2010.
Truex said on Friday that he's committed to staying the course. "When I give someone my word by signing a contract, if they keep theirs and I keep my mind, there's no reason to ever think about doing anything else, obviously," Truex said. "Right now, my focus is on getting this car better and moving up in the points. We're back here where we shouldn't be. We've never been back this far before and we've had a tough start to the year."
As for Bass Pro Shops, if Truex does leave. don't be surprised if the sponsor fills out Ryan Newman's program on the #39 Chevy at Stewart-Haas Racing [US Army is there for 23 races]. That deal, which is valued between $8 million and $10 million, could go down before summer.(FoxSports) UPDATE: SPEEDtv's Hermie Sadler reported that EGR's President Steve Lauletta said they would be meeting Tuesday to decide the fate of the #8 team and that Bass Pro Shops is signed with EGR thru the 2010 season and there is no 'out' for them.

Edwards: ‘We’re all in this together’

Greg Engle/nascarexaminer.com

Carl Edwards came within a pit stop of scoring his third straight win in a row at Texas Motor Speedway Sunday.

After starting 13th, Edwards worked his way to the front and took the lead on lap 294 after Jeff Gordon got trapped behind a slower car.

With clean air in front of him, Edwards began to build his lead. But a caution on lap 302, only 35 laps from the end, proved to be his undoing.

While pitting, the front tire changer experienced problems on both front tires. The slow stop sent Edwards out in 11th virtually ending any hope of victory.

"We missed the set-up, so from the beginning of the race we were struggling to get the balance, and then Bob [Osborne, crew chief] got it balanced, we had that one good pit stop, passed Jeff for the lead, and I thought, 'If we can have just one more, we'll be all right,'” Edwards said. “Then we went in leading and came out 11th, and that's what cost us the race. My guys are trying real hard, we're all in this together, but we can do a better job than that and I'm sure we will."

It wasn’t the first time Sunday, or this season, that pit road troubles have hurt the No. 99 team.

For his part however, Edwards refused to lay blame or even lose his cool.

“Those guys want to win this race just as bad as I do,” he said. “We're all in this together. They don't yell at me when I hit the wall, so it's not my position to be mad at them, we just have to do whatever we can to fix it. Hopefully, that's good enough. I think we'll get better. They can do it, they had one pit stop, we passed a ton of people and put us in a position to get the lead. I know they can do it, we just got to figure out how to do it every time."

Kurt Busch’s run solid, if not spectacular

By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

FORT WORTH, Texas — Kurt Busch couldn’t keep pace with the fastest cars Sunday, but he used a solid eighth-place run to hold the third position in the Sprint Cup points standings.

“It was a really good run for the Miller Lite Dodge,” said Busch, who trails series leader Jeff Gordon by 180 points after seven races. “We worked on it (the car) and made small adjustments throughout the day.

“We felt like we couldn’t run with the big dogs today but could have a good points day. That’s exactly what we needed. I felt that our car was better on the long runs. The short green runs, that wasn’t good for us. We needed to be out there as long as we could and stretch it out. The green flag pit stops helped us move our way forward.”

Busch started 28th but moved up steadily during a 97-lap green-flag run to open the race. When the field restarted on Lap 103 after the first of six cautions, he was 14th.

Earnhardt Jr. says his team has figured out the problem

Greg Engle/nascarexaminer.com

Dale Earnhardt Junior came to Texas hoping to build on his 8th place finish at Martinsville-his best of the season- the week prior.

But Sunday despite some promising moments, Earnhardt finished the day exactly where he started, in 20th position.

Improving the team’s starting position however may be the key to improving his finishing positions in the future according to Earnhardt.

The team has been struggling most of the season. With finishes outside the top 10 for all but two of the seven races, the team has been looking for ways to become a consistent contender each and every week.

Sunday Earnhardt appeared to have a pit road miscue; something that has happened more then once this season. When he came in for a stop he continued past his pit stall, made another lap, then came back in. At the time it was viewed as a mistake. But after the race, Earnhardt said it wasn’t a mistake at all.

“That wasn’t nothing,” Earnhardt said. “We were already last in line on the lead lap. We come down pit road and all the lapped cars were in their stalls and didn’t want to get t-boned by one of them. I didn’t get it in the stall so we just went around and came back in, that time pit road was empty.”

On Lap 259 Earnhardt Junior took the lead after pitting by getting only two tires while most took four. He would lead a total of six. His chances of winning came to an end on lap 290 when he took his Chevy too high in turn one and scraped the wall.

He would hold on for 20th.

“Trying too hard and run well, and just got in to the wall down there in the middle of one and two. The car jumped sideways,” he said. “Those cars built pretty tough. It didn’t bend anything in the car. We just running real hard there, trying to get the best finish we could there. Just got us in there a little deep and got in the fence. My mistake.”

After a season that hasn’t seen many highlights, the key to improving and avoiding finishes like Texas according to Earnhardt is simply better starting positions.

“We were running pretty good all day. We were really fast. We just started way back there and you can’t pass,” he said. “You’ve got to start where you’ve got to finish, you know. You’ve got to start up front or you won’t finish here.”

Better qualifying is something the team has started to work on and according to Earnhardt should help them going forward.

“We’ve been working toward showing up in qualifying trim,” he said. “We used to show up in race trim and run a half-hour in that first Friday practice and now we’re just going to show up in qualifying trim for a while and try to get better. Really, it’s so challenging and so hard to pass, especially at a place like this, starting up front really helps and the cars drive a lot better when they’re up in clean air.”

Jimmie Johnson was bearing down on a rival, not a friend

By CARLOS MENDEZ/star-telegram.com

As Jimmie Johnson closed in on the lead car, he saw only a number and a name.

24.

Jeff Gordon.

Not a teammate who hadn’t won in a year and a half.

Not a friend.

He would have gladly denied him another victory if he could have. But when he couldn’t, when Gordon proved too fast to catch, when they were both past the finish line, Johnson relaxed.

He was glad about what he had just seen — Gordon’s No. Guard Chevrolet sailing to victory in the Samsung 500 on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

"As a friend, I would have felt bad if I had passed him," Johnson said. "As a competitor, I would have been excited. The best thing I can do, from a competition standpoint, is break any momentum anybody has, and the 24 is leading the points right now.

"If I could have made a pass and won, as much as we compete against each other, it could have been helpful for a couple of months.

"But on the friendship side, I’m glad to see my teammate win, especially a friend. I’m very happy for Jeff."

The Hendrick Motorsports teammates are used to racing each other. Sunday marked the ninth time they have finished first and second. But for Johnson, finishing second was an accomplishment in itself.

Gordon, starting on the outside of the front row, was strong from the start. Johnson, starting ninth, ran out of the top 10 for most of the race, looking for a setup that could work against the wind. A lack of cautions hurt him.

But when Johnson’s team found the right combination, his car looked like it might be a winner.

"There at the end, when I had clean air, we picked up a ton of speed," Johnson said. "A lot of the handling characteristics improved at that point. I was just trying to find a way to the front, chipping away at his lead. I just ran out of time."

The final 30 laps belonged to Gordon, but Johnson enjoyed the competition.

"The cool thing about the last 28 laps is there was nothing left out there," Johnson said. "My foot, it felt like being at the go-kart track, it was asleep from pushing the gas pedal so hard. It was still tingling. It was fun driving so hard. I’m glad Jeff got his win."

Jeff Gordon breaks hex at Texas

By David Poole/charlotteobserver.com

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Texas Motor Speedway had been so hard on Jeff Gordon it made his baby girl cry.

He hadn't won for so long anywhere that he found himself copying what other winners had been doing for the past 18 months and, perhaps without realizing it, quoting lyrics from a song the band Foreigner performed during a prerace concert.

He even needed notes to remember what sponsors to thank Sunday -- going down the side of his car and looking at patches on his uniform like a nervous victory lane rookie.

"Things have changed since I've won a race," Gordon said after his victory in the Samsung 500 at a track where he hadn't won in his first 16 tries. "But you don't have to worry about finding Victory Lane. They'll point you to it."

For 13 seasons, Gordon won so often celebrations were second nature. But it had been 47 races since his last win at Charlotte in October 2007, by far the longest since his first career win in 1994.

He was rusty.

"It was the coolest," Gordon said after holding off Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson over the final laps to get his 82nd career Sprint Cup win. "All those emotions and excitement. ... A season goes by and guys re-create how they celebrate a victory from getting the checkered flag."

Gordon did burnouts. He stopped and got the checkered flag.

"That's the first time I've ever carried a checkered flag around a race win in NASCAR," he said. "I used to do it in quarter midgets back when I was about 8.

"I can't do a back flip, so I'm not going to do that."

This sunny but windy afternoon might have concluded with a back flip, the signature move from Carl Edwards who won both Cup races here last season while Gordon went all year without winning for the first time since his rookie campaign in 1993.

Edwards had passed Gordon for the lead on Lap 296 but his team fumbled away its chance for a victory on a final pit stop that stop left Edwards 11th for the restart with 25 laps to go.

"We're all in this together," Edwards said after finishing 10th. "Those guys don't yell at me when I hit the wall, so it's not my position to be mad at them."

Gordon's crew, on the other hand, ripped off a fast stop. He'd come in third, behind Edwards and Tony Stewart, but Gordon won the race off pit road and got his No. 24 Chevrolet in the clean air he needed to get a good jump into the final run.

Stewart was second. Johnson, whose team kept improving on a Chevrolet that was not a factor in the first two-thirds of the race, was third. Greg Biffle, who'd led 93 laps but who'd also lost track position when he had problems on pit road, was fourth.

Gordon said his car was perfect for the first few laps after the restart. "The car was so stuck to the race track I didn't have to worry about making mistakes," he said. "I couldn't mess it up. But after that the balance started going away and I kept telling myself, 'Don't make a mistake. Don't overdrive it.' I did a couple times but recovered."

Johnson got to second and he was giving it all he had to try to catch his teammate. Johnson, driving car No. 48, wanted to extend Gordon's winless streak to that number.

"As a friend, I would have felt bad," Johnson said. "As a competitor, I would have been excited.

"... I could only get so close. I tried the topside. Nothing really panned out. I went back down to the bottom and started making up a little bit of time again, hoping that that would put pressure on him and force him into a mistake. But he ran a perfect race."

It wasn't perfect, Gordon said, but it was good enough at track where Gordon admitted that as recently as after Saturday's final practice session he felt "lost."

Gordon, who now has won at every track on the Sprint Cup schedule except for Homestead-Miami Speedway, actually has more top-five finishes (seven) here than any other driver. But he's also had some tough times here -- things like wrecks and mistakes that hadn't happened nearly as often to the four-time Cup champion at other tracks.

One of the worst came a year ago this week. After getting his season off to a decent start Gordon and his team came to Texas and struggled from the time they unloaded.

The angst carried over off the track, too. Gordon's wife, Ingrid, and their daughter, Ella, were here all weekend last year.

"I was having a rough time on the track because we weren't very good," Gordon said. "I love going back to see Ella and Ingrid in the bus, but Ella was not sleeping well. So I was up all night and stressed out."

On race day, Gordon finished 43rd.

"It was no coincidence to me that we had the race that we had at this time last year," he said. "It was just a miserable weekend all the way around."

This time it was just the opposite. Ingrid and Ella weren't here this time, but Gordon said he believes this win means there will be more this year, so there will be other opportunities for them to join the fun.

As for Gordon, the victory moved him to within one of tying Cale Yarborough for fifth on the all-time victory list.

But this one had its own feel, Gordon said.

"It feels like the very first time," he said. 

Thinkin’ Out Loud

Samsung 500

Matt McLaughlin · Frontstretch.com

The Key Moment: Jeff Gordon emerged from the final round of pit stops with the lead as Carl Edwards’ No. 99 team fumbled the ball badly, dropping their boy to eleventh.

In a Nutshell: Jeff Gordon won for the first time in 47 races. You knew it was coming eventually — just not at Texas.

Dramatic Moment: Jimmie Johnson did his damnedest to keep Gordon honest in the final ten laps, but came up short.

What They’ll Be Talking About Around the Water Cooler This Week

“Wide Open Spaces” makes for better cowboy songs than races. The gaps between even drivers in the top 10 often seemed eternal at Texas.

Does it seem like the only side-by-side, fender-banging racing we see these days is during commercial breaks? If the racing was half as good during the events themselves as it is in commercials, these drooping ratings would take care of themselves.

All cars and drivers seem to benefit from “clean air” when they’re running in the lead, but does it seem the No. 24 car is in a league all its own in that regard?

I’ve been a race fan for almost all my life, and a rabid one at times. This is what I do on Sundays from February to November. But I can’t be the only one lately who watches a beautiful Spring afternoon pass by outside my window and thinks that there’s got to be better ways to spend my time.

Does it seem like 2009 is offering up a record number of transmission and clutch failures? Maybe some of these guys need to start running C6s.

Matt Kenseth seems to be like that little girl with a curl in the nursery rhyme. When he’s good, he’s very, very good; but when he’s bad, he’s awful.

Maybe they need to put a cold bottle of beer at the end of Dale Junior’s pit road pole. There’s one thing the guy isn’t going to miss.

A record number of lead changes? And a record lack of cautions. Do the math. Green flag pit sequences shuffle the drivers at the front of the pack as the sequences play out, but it’s not the sort of passes for the lead fans get excited over. (Though to be fair, the increasingly desperate Earnhardt Nation did go nuts when a two tire stop put the No. 88 car into the lead.)

You know, sometimes these dumb SOBs just seem to be trying to shoot themselves in the foot — no pun intended. One of the coolest trophies in NASCAR racing (way behind the Martinsville grandfather clock, of course) is the Beretta guns the race and pole winners are awarded at Texas. But on a day when a psychotic went on a shooting rampage in Binghamton, New York, killing at least fourteen innocent souls, do we really need to see David Reutimann grinning like a Jack-0-Lantern as he aims a shotgun into the grandstands? Hell, I’m a “cold dead hand” gun rights constitutional amendment sort who happens to feel that enforcement of current gun laws is going to solve a whole lot more problems than new ones — but that made even me wince. You never point a weapon, even one you are certain is unloaded, in the direction of an innocent person or persons (even if it only was media members within shotgun range.) Why give the loyal opposition that much more ammo? (Again, no pun intended.) I guess when they outlaw guns for good, outlaws will beat us over the head with grandfather clocks instead.

It is rumored (to the point of fact, I’m certain) that this year’s Cup awards banquet will be moved from New York to Las Vegas. The banquet, which was originally held in Charlotte, moved to New York in 1981 to try to drum up some interest on Wall Street and attention in the mainstream media. Yeah, it’s a long flight to Vegas … but it’s perfect. Vegas is fake, showy, tacky, and crude, just like our sport has become. The odds favor the house: yesterday, today and forever. Folks arrive in Vegas hoping to get rich, but end up broke just like new team owners in NASCAR — and the house always wins. Like the founders of the Vegas strip, NASCAR is a mob unto itself, with its unholy alliance between NASCAR and the ISC that tends to rub out those who cross it. (But like the Boss used to sing, Baby, everything dies, that’s a fact, but maybe everything that dies, sometimes comes back… I’m still here.) So what we’re likely to see is a NASCAR banquet long on flashing lights, hype, and lies but with all the substance of a South Park Cheezy-Poof. An awards banquet in Vegas is the ultimate kick to the sack to a sport born in the Buckle of the Bible Belt from our friend, Brian France (Vegas does, after all, proudly dub itself “Sin City,” right?). On a brighter note, maybe Penn and Teller can stage a magic act that makes Dear Brian disappear… and not come back.

Expect an announcement this week that Richard Petty Motorsports will try to field a car for this year’s Indy 500 with John Andretti at the wheel. Yeah, with all the stellar success they are enjoying to date this season and all those race wins, a little distraction can’t hurt them any, right? How about running Kyle Petty as Andretti’s teammate at Indy? I hear he’s looking for work.

Stop the presses. Despite long odds, track owner Bruton Smith will be inducted into the Texas Motorsports Speedway Hall of Fame. I’m sure Frances Ferko will be next.

Bruton Smith angrily denied that his chain of Sonic new and used car dealerships was heading into bankruptcy, despite a report in the Charlotte Observer that quoted Smith’s son who runs the company. Mr. Smith says that his dealerships are making lots and lots of money — tons of money, in fact — in a sign that the troubled U.S. economy is turning around. He does admit that last year the company gave away 560 million dollars towards “good will,” however. Good will? Is my check in the mail? I figure as a U.S. citizen, I ought to be worth at least ten bucks right there — but I’ll settle for a used Challenger RT Hemi, black on black please.

Smith (and I love when he hosts race weekends because he gives me so much to write about) went on to say that NASCAR needs to skew the race purse more towards winning than a consistent finish to spice the racing back up. I agree… but I do so with my usual site-enforced decorum. In comparison, here’s what Mr. Smith had to say about drivers commenting on a good points race. “Well, I had a pretty good day. I finished fourth. That’s pretty good points.’ Well, that’s bullshit. That’s what we don’t need. We’re not in the points racing business.” Editors, break out your black magic markers and “s**t,” please.

Uh-oh. NASCAR is said to be “putting out feelers” to find a replacement title sponsor for Camping World for the Truck Series. Who’d have thunk? In this economy, with all the focus on gas mileage and environmental sensitivity, you’d think selling RVs that cost more than the homes many of us live in would be a license to print money, right?

If Earnhardt Ganassi racing does shut down the No. 8 team after this weekend’s race as rumored, Martin Truex, Jr. technically becomes a free agent. His contract and that of Bass Pro Shops with the team stipulates that the organization he drives for will run three fully-funded and sponsored competitive cars. I wonder how Truex would look in orange and white?

Oh, boy! The return of a Digger cartoon and Jeff Hammond dressed up like an extra from Brokeback Mountain! Apparently, director Artie Kempner wants to make sure that fans’ blood pressure remains unhealthily high during the off week ahead. Isn’t it odd that while Kempner was on hiatus, the damn gopher was as well?

Department of Corrections – Fictional Facts. A note to our old friend Larry McReynolds: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. did not win his first Nationwide Series race at Texas. He won his first Busch Series victory. Nor did Earnhardt win his first Sprint Cup race at Texas. He won his first Winston Cup race at TMS. Stick to mangling the English language — not the facts.

I guess the editors don’t want me to do any more political editorializing no matter how benign or bipartisan, but I feel sad that three Pittsburgh police officers were killed in the line of duty and all those poor folks lost their lives in Binghamton this week.

The Hindenburg Award For Foul Fortune

Carl Edwards lost if not race wins at least a solid shot at contending for two wins in the pits on Saturday and Sunday.

David Reutimann started from the pole and ran up front early, but a miscue in the pits ended any chances of scoring his first win. Note to all crews: When those NASCAR officials in your pits start waving their hands over their heads and getting all bright red in the face, you might want to take a second and see what those fellows’ concerns are.

Kyle Busch got annoyed with John Andretti and showed his displeasure by ramming into the side of Andretti’s car. It wasn’t a wise move, as in the end it cut down a rear tire on the No. 18 car and dropped him off the lead lap.

Marcos Ambrose had a solid run going until a terminally expired engine announced by an epic amount of smoke ended his afternoon.

I wouldn’t want to be a member of any of the Roush pit crews this Monday when the owner calls them together for a team meeting. If Charlotte is Jimmie Johnson’s House, Texas is supposed to be Roush’s tree fort.

Hopefully, the No. 29 team packed Kevin Harvick a nice picnic basket, because his Chevy was clearly out to lunch on Sunday.

It can’t be easy to be Dale Earnhardt, Jr., watching another win by one of his teammates while he slunk home 20th. Earnhardt’s cause was greatly hindered by problems in the pits. And who runs that pit crew? Oh, right, we’re supposed to back off that guy. Forget I said anything.

The “Seven Come Fore Eleven” Award For Fine Fortune

Jimmie Johnson barely avoided Sam Hornish’s spinning Dodge en route to a second place finish. And you know there’s a lot of pit crews who’d like to steal that magic wand of Chad Knaus’ that turns a hopelessly slow car early in the race into a contender late out of the No. 48 team’s toolbox.

Matt Kenseth overcame problems in the pits to rally back for a fifth place finish.

Tony Stewart’s tenure as a driver/owner could hardly be off to a better start in even his wildest fantasies.

Don’t shovel any more dirt into Juan Pablo Montoya’s grave just yet. Recently, there seems to be a pulse within the No. 42 team.

Paul Menard had a solid run in the best ride his father’s millions can afford him on Sunday.

Worth Noting

• Homestead is now the only track that currently hosts Cup races where Jeff Gordon has yet to win an event. Gordon has now scored four consecutive top 5 finishes; in those same four weeks, Jimmie Johnson has managed top 10 results.
• Greg Biffle’s third place finish was his best of the season, and matches his best result since Kansas last Fall.
• Mark Martin’s sixth place finish matches his best result of 2009. Martin also finished sixth at Bristol a few weeks back.
• Juan Pablo Montoya’s seventh place finish was his best of the season and his best Cup finish since Watkins Glen last year.
• Paul Menard’s 13th place finish was his best since Talladega last year.
• Joey Logano’s 30th place finish was the best by a declared Rookie of the Year candidate. Of course, Scott Speed, the only other real dog in the fight, failed to qualify for the race. (Max Papis finished 35th, but is running only a limited schedule of 20 races which makes winning the award virtually impossible).
• The top 10 finishers at Texas drove six Chevys, three Fords, and a Dodge. David Reutimann in eleventh enjoyed the best finish of any of the Toyota drivers.

What’s the Points?

With everything going on in the world right now, if you’re truly worried about the points at this stage of the season you’re just not paying attention.

Not surprisingly, race winner Jeff Gordon remains atop the standings. If he shows up at Phoenix (and my guess is, he will) he’ll still be leading Jimmie Johnson after the race as Johnson, now second in points, is 162 off the pace.

Within the top 12, Matt Kenseth had the best points day at Texas, rebounding three spots to ninth. Tony Stewart moves up two spots to fifth in the standings, while Clint Bowyer took it in his not inconsiderable chin at Texas, dropping two spots to fourth.

Jeff Burton eased up a spot into the top 12 this week, taking over that coveted 12th place spot. Juan Pablo Montoya finds himself sitting 13th in the standings, just sixteen points behind Burton. Behind him sits Kevin Harvick, who fell four spots from 10th clear down to 14th.

Greg Biffle had a solid points day at Texas, moving up eight spots to 15th. Mark Martin was another beneficiary of a strong run, as he moved up nine spots to 18th.

On the other hand, Michael Waltrip continues his Three Stooges-like plummet down the points ladder, falling another four spots to 21st. Why, you, I oughta…

Oops. Don’t look now, but “Sliced Bread” Logano finds himself perched precariously in 35th in the standings. I’m sure he’s got talent, but right now watching this kid at the wheel of a Cup car is like watching a man drown. Only Aric Almirola has made all seven races to date this season and is lower in the points than Logano. And Almirola likely won’t be back at Phoenix…

Overall Rating (On a scale of one to six beer cans, with one being a stinker and a six pack an instant classic) — We’ll give this one three cans of somewhat chilled domestic stuff. Just another McRace at another McTrack a lot longer on hat than cattle.

Next Up: The circuit takes a weekend off as Christians worldwide celebrate their most sacred solemnity, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and our elder brothers in faith celebrate their Passover and liberation as a people from slavery in Egypt. Racing, or some tepid facsimile thereof, resumes at Phoenix on April 16th. Meanwhile, be sure to pay your taxes… AIG executives are counting on you.

Five Points to Ponder

Texas  Edition

Mike Lovecchio · Frontstretch.com

The streak is over

How fitting is it that Jeff Gordon’s 47-race winless streak comes to an end at a track where he’s been winless for his entire career? Gordon was strong for much of the race, but it was a combination of a good pit stop by the No. 24 bunch and yet another poor stop by the No. 99 team that led to the coveted clean air needed for Gordon to pull away for the victory. The win may have been a long time coming, but it certainly wasn’t a surprise with the way the No. 24 team has been running this season.

And how cool was it to see Gordon genuinely happy in Victory Lane? This is a guy that’s been there 81 previous times and has had several half-hearted, almost fake celebrations throughout his career. But this was nothing like one of those celebrations, and I for one was happy to see Gordon forgetting sponsors and that excited to talk to Rick Hendrick on the phone.

Logano continues to struggle

While Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin continue to run strong, the third Joe Gibbs Racing entry isn’t. Joey Logano had yet another poor outing this weekend in the No. 20 car, this time dropping from a decent 10th place starting position to do so. He struggled from the time they waved the green, and at one point “Loganoed” the wall on his way to ultimately finishing 30th. I’m more than willing to give Logano time to grow and develop, but I’m growing concerned that he was indeed brought up too soon.

Logano’s last four starts have resulted in finishes of 30th or worse and he doesn’t look comfortable on the track, to say the least. In comparison, let’s look at Brad Keselowski’s race on Sunday. This is a guy with much more Nationwide experience than Logano, and this weekend he took a fifth Hendrick Motorsports car that was not handling too well and still finished 23rd. Keselowski may also be a rookie, but this a perfect example of what another year of Nationwide racing can do for a young driver.

Has Kurt Busch really grown up?

The general consensus believed Kurt Busch had matured at Penske Racing since his time at Roush Fenway. But after radio chatter between he and car owner Roger Penske was released this week, it’s become apparent that he has not. The blatant disrespect for one of the most respected men not just in NASCAR, but in all of motorsports is downright appalling. Busch has been out of the spotlight for a few years now while it’s been his younger brother who’s made an ass out of himself, but it seems as if the man who once needed a punch in the face by Jimmy Spencer and a release from a championship team to wake up simply never did.

Harvick, Stewart give a helping hand

Fans have noticed Morgan Shepherd running in the top 20 more often this year than in previous years in the Nationwide Series, and there’s a reason for it – better equipment. The Dallas Morning News reported this week that a couple of years ago after a crash at Kentucky, Shepherd radioed to his crew and said, “This puts us out of business.” Since then, Kevin Harvick has offered cars, parts, and technical support while Tony Stewart has offered assistance in the way of buying three engines for Shepherd at the beginning of the year — while paying for tires for the entire season.

Harvick and Stewart may get a lot of bad publicity for their occasional temper tantrums, but this is quite simply a kindhearted gesture that does not get enough attention. The media drools from the mouth waiting for Stewart or Harvick to slip and get in a shoving match with another driver or call out Goodyear for a tire malfunction, but when one of these drivers does something selfless such as this, the media hardly says a word.

Speed says no

Right here on his Frontstretch.com Driver Diary, Scott Speed stated the rumors of him considering the U.S. F-1 ride are simply not true. This leaves A.J. Allmendinger as the lone remaining NASCAR driver being considered, but as Richard Petty Motorsports is having success finding sponsorship for the No. 44 car and Allmendinger is quickly becoming a fan favorite, it does not seem likely he will take the ride if offered, either. Of the two drivers, Speed seems like a better fit since he’s currently outside the top 35 in owner points and has F-1 experience. Speed may have said no for this ride, but I would not rule a future F-1 seat out of the question if this NASCAR thing doesn’t work out.

Notes to ponder:

NASCAR pro-radio: Despite the Kurt Busch/Roger Penske altercation, NASCAR says it will still leave radio chatter open to all fans and media.

Kyle Busch vs. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: What is it about Busch always getting into Junior when he is leading late in the race? The latest contact lost the No. 88 four spots after pit strategy to take the lead.

Montoya = Chase?: Has anyone else noticed Juan Pablo Montoya sits 13th in points with five top 15s in seven starts?

Carl’s crew: The No. 99 crew continues to struggle. After costing Edwards numerous spots last week at Martinsville, this week the team may have cost him the win.

Reutimann sticking around: Some fans may have seen David Reutimann’s hot start as a fluke, but a pole and an 11th place run this weekend keeps him in the top 12 in points.

Stewart, Harvick lending a hand to veteran Shepherd in Nationwide Series

By Matt Myftiu of The Oakland Press

More than two years ago, NASCAR veteran Morgan Shepherd thought his career has just gone up in smoke.
Driving for his own team, which had a shoestring budget and only one car, Shepherd was run into the wall by a competitor and in the process his only car was destroyed.
That’s when Shepherd, who is 67 years old and has won four Cup races and “hundreds” of races in various other series in his more than four-decade career, went on his radio and said, “I reckon that puts us out of business.”
Then, something amazing happened. NASCAR star Kevin Harvick caught wind of what Shepherd had said. Without being asked to help, he told his team manager to call Shepherd and ask if he could help with parts so the veteran could get back on the track.
Since that day, Harvick and another superstar, Tony Stewart, have been helping to make it possible for Shepherd to keep his tiny operation afloat. Against all odds, Shepherd’s finishes this season in the Nationwide series include a 13th place at Las Vegas and a 19th place at California. He is enjoying a career resurgence and regularly outrunning some of the big names in NASCAR.
Shepherd said that Stewart bought him three motors for this season and helps with tire bills, and Harvick has built cars for him. He said he is extremely grateful for the help they are providing.
“These guys just know me from when I raced (in Cup), and out of the goodness of their heart they are helping us keep the car on the track,” he said. “God has blessed us with good friends.”
Now that he is able to run the full season in the Nationwide series, where he won a title in 1980, he has some lofty goals.
“My goal is to break through the top 20 (in points). We’re plenty capable of being in the top 15 in the points.”
Shepherd said that the “bad boy” image that Stewart and Harvick have been given through their careers is not who they really are.
“One time I was on Tony’s radio show and told Tony, ‘A lot of people don’t know you the way we know you and what a kind heart you have.’ Tony said, ‘Stop it. You’re messing up my bad boy image.’ ”Shepherd said.
“He plays that up on the track and that gets media attention. It brings notoriety. But I know that before me, he has helped other people.”
In addition to racing, Shepherd also runs the Morgan Shepherd Charity Fund, which helps poor and disabled people. He recalled a time when another big NASCAR star, Carl Edwards, showed his charitable side when he ran into Shepherd after last fall’s final race at Homestead.
“I took a brochure down to him from our charity, and told him, ‘If you give a dollar, that dollar will help somebody. When I was done, he said, ‘Morgan, how about I give you $10,000?’ ” Shepherd said.
“I hugged him and shook his hand. Then he said, ‘You know what: I’m gonna give 25K,’ ” and proceeded to tell Shepherd how the drivers look at him as an inspiration because of his dedication to keep going in the sport.
This kind of respect is what allows Shepherd to continue racing long after his contemporaries have hung up their helmets.
It also takes a lot of hard work. Besides racing on the weekends, he still spends most of the week under the hood of his car.
His mostly unsponsored Faith Motorsports team has a total of five people working out of a 5,000-square foot garage in Conover, N.C., and has to cobble together pit crews each week at the racetrack.
“I go to pick up a lot of parts myself. I can go to Richard Childress or Chip Ganassi and they’ll help me,” Shepherd said. “If I send somebody, it’ll cost a lot of money. If I come face to face, a lot of times they’ll give us stuff.”
For those thinking this might be Shepherd’s last season due to his advanced age, think again.
“I don’t ever think about retiring. I’ve learned that man’s plans don’t work, only God’s plans,” he said. “I’m here for the duration and love to do it as much as the day I started. You’ll see me her as long as I can do the job.”
Shepherd, who has strong religious beliefs, views his racing team as a sort of ministry.
“I’ve taken this on as a mission. The best way to reach people is to reach them through NASCAR. I hope to be an inspiration,” he said. “For Tony and Kevin and some of the fans to be helping us, that means that we must be doing something right. That’s why we don’t have any plans to leave.”

Is Jeff Gordon sizing up another ring?

By Mike Hembree/scenedaily.com

Chances are increasing – they took a really big jump Sunday – that this year will be the one-for-the-thumb year for Jeff Gordon.

People along pit road have been scratching their heads for month after month as Gordon has bounced through a rather mysterious winless streak. It wasn’t particularly alarming because virtually all of the sport’s greats – even superstars like Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. – endured frustrating “losing” streaks over the years. It could be expected that Gordon would run through a deep canyon or two sooner or later. Still, for a driver who remains in his productive years, the absence from victory lane has been puzzling.

After what has been a productive and competitive start to the new season, Gordon finally cashed in in a big way at Texas Motor Speedway. He won, and he won big. And he won at one of the few tracks that have been burdens for him over a multi-championship career. The victory was his first at TMS.

Gordon’s win put an exclamation point of sorts on what already was a season filled with positive spin. Drivers can win championships without piling up race wins, of course, and Gordon could have been forgiven for continuing to be pleased with a string of top-10 finishes. He now has six top 10s in seven races. But to cross the big white line first – after so many close calls and a bundle of other races over the past year and a half in which trouble hit – is certainly a big boost for Gordon and his team.

Since 2001, the star-crossed season in which the sport lost Earnhardt Sr. and Gordon scored his fourth and – to date – last championship, there has been a sense of unfulfilled destiny surrounding Gordon and his team. When Gordon rang up championships in 1995 and 1997, expectations popped up like daffodils after a spring rain. Some of those expectations were a little over the edge, and one of those was the thinking that Gordon soon would breeze into the select company that included  Earnhardt Sr. and Petty – winners of seven Cup championships.

In just a few years, those big into predictions said, Gordon not only would catch Earnhardt and Petty but also would zoom past them in a rush to a record eighth title. This would be uncharted territory and undiscovered country, but the reasoning was that Gordon had started so young and had so much ability that he was almost certain to reach that starry number before retirement beckoned.

Then came somewhat of a slowing of the Gordon Express, and soon after came the Chase, a format that threw all the dice into the air and called off all bets. Seasons that could have held titles for Gordon under other circumstances instead leaned toward other drivers in the new format, and Gordon has been stuck at four titles since winning in 2001.

Gordon now is 37 years old, and it is unlikely – although certainly not impossible – that he will win eight championships. It should be noted, however, that he is the only driver other than Petty and Earnhardt to win more than three championships in the sport’s 60-year history, and, considering his consistent start to this season and his win Sunday, it also shouldn’t be surprising if he wins a ring for the thumb this year.

It’s early, of course, to begin making predictions of that sort, and the 10-race Chase could scramble all manner of good deeds that might be produced during the first 26-race run. But, for Gordon and those who follow his every move, Sunday was a bright day in the Lone Star State. And there could be many more of them before November arrives.

Joe Gibbs: Legendary coach still roaming the sidelines

By Mike Hembree

Joe Gibbs could finally slow down and relax.

The three-time Super Bowl-winning coach left the Washington Redskins at the conclusion of the 2007 NFL season, and his eldest son J.D. was running the family’s Sprint Cup team.

Gibbs was free to play a little golf, do some fishing and spend more time with friends and family.

But the 67-year-old Hall of Fame coach never really took to retirement. Instead, he spent more time tending to the team’s many sponsors and he helped his youngest son Coy launch a professional motocross team.

Gibbs even found time to return to the sidelines — coaching a team of fifth- and sixth-graders in the Junior Eagle Football Association.

Gibbs’ grandson, Jackson, and a handful of other children of Joe Gibbs Racing employees were on the team. And to the kids, Gibbs wasn’t one of the legends of the National Football League’s modern era. He was just “Coach,” another guy in the mix of parents, grandparents and assistants hovering around their practices and games.

For Gibbs, however, transitioning from coaching the Washington Redskins to leading the White Storm wasn’t without its minor — and humorous — challenges.

On the day of our visit, Gibbs stood on a grassy field just down the street from Joe Gibbs Racing HQ in Huntersville, N.C. — clutching a handful of laminated cards.

“I drew up the plays on 8-by-11 cards,” Gibbs says. “We were going to try to run the plays as fast as we could in practice. We were trying to get a lot done in a hurry. I said, ‘OK, this play is split right, pass right,’ holding up the card. Rob, our center, sticks up his hand and says, ‘Did you buy those or draw those?’ ”

Reality checks aside, Gibbs, by all accounts, did a masterful job guiding the group of youngsters.

“He gets down there and shows them what to do,” says assistant coach Dave Alpern, who is also JGR’s VP of marketing. “He’s really been good about making things simple. He’s good about coming up with a phrase that works. He was running a drill about holding onto the ball, and he kept telling them, ‘High and tight. High and tight.’ Now we hear the kids telling that to their teammates during games.

“It’s been fun to see kids go from nothing to blitzing and pulling. But I think some of the other teams maybe think it’s a little unfair for us to have Joe Gibbs as a coach.”

Some of the opponents Gibbs has faced — in several venues — over the years feel the same way.

This article originally appeared in the March 2009 issue of NASCAR Illustrated.

NASCAR Chairman Brian France: Potential banquet move partly an economic move

By Bob Pockrass/scenedaily.com

FORT WORTH, Texas – A move of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series awards banquet from New York City to Las Vegas or another location would be at least partially driven by the economy, NASCAR Chairman Brian France said in a brief interview Sunday prior to the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

NASCAR is considering moving the banquet from New York City, where it has staged its postesason awards ceremony since 1981.

“We’re looking at our options and have been for a couple of months, not just Las Vegas but a couple of other markets and we might very well end up back in New York, too,” France said. “It’s a great tradition that we’ve had there. There needs to be some compelling reasons – mainly saving money for the industry.

“Room rates, air travel, those kind of things are what we are trying to examine as it’s gotten caught up in our overall trying to get costs out of the system, and the banquet has fallen into that category.”

Obviously having the potential for fans to either be more involved in pre-banquet events or the banquet itself is a consideration in a potential move from New York City,

“Having the flexibility that we don’t have in New York, [where there are] space limitations, would be a big benefit,” France said. “But we’re not there yet. We’re looking at our options. We’ve had some nice interest and we’ll have to see how it goes.”

The other big topic in the garage this week was the status of manufacturers Dodge and General Motors after their viability plans were rejected by President Obama. France said it was a blow to see Rick Wagoner, CEO of General Motors, resign at Obama’s request but NASCAR will do whatever it can to help the manufacturers.

“The government is committed, the administration is committed in assisting the automotive industry,” France said. “They’ve got to come with their reconstruction plans and we’ll do everything we can to help them produce plans that work.”

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
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