Happy Tuesday.

Today In Nascar History

June 9, 1991: Ricky Rudd crosses the finish line first in the Banquet Frozen Foods 300 at Sonoma -- but two hours after the race, Davey Allison is declared the winner. Rudd makes contact and spins out Allison with just more than a lap to go, but by the time NASCAR assesses Rudd with a stop-and-go penalty for rough driving, he already has taken the white flag. A black flag, rather than the checkers, greets Rudd at the finish line. Ultimately, Rudd is penalized 5 seconds, which places him behind Allison ... and Allison is declared the winner.

Thanks to Anthony for the heads up on these…

Two really cool events going on at the moment.  Please let your fans know about www.vest4k9. com and www.smokescamaro.com.  Greg and Tony are doing some great work for their foundations, and allows fans some fun opportunities.

Hey,

We've launched a NASCAR related contest on Facebook and Twitter. Here are the details. You can win $500 in Tools and more. All you have to do is fan us on facebook. You should send this out to your readers so that they can take advantage of this:
LENOX CONTEST IS HERE! WIN $500 in TOOLS and more! Here's how: http://bit.ly/yctD9
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you!
Regards,
Mansi

Comments from the Peanut Gallery

From Lou

Hi Momma,

Chip wrote about Richard Petty winning a race with an engine that was oversize. This happened, but, it wasn't his 200th win. I believe it was his 198th win and the last time he drove for Petty Enterprises. I don't believe there was a fine involved here because of a couple of reasons. The year was 1983 and NASCAR ran stock cars from the manufacturer or dealer so the engine was a factory engine. NASCAR's rules were pretty much "if you could buy it from the factory and it is street legal, you could race it" This was controversial, but not illegal. Pretty much like in the NHRA Superstock class in 1962. The biggest Chevrolet automobile engine was a 348ci, but you could order, and get through the dealer a car with the 409ci truck engine in it. The rules were much more lax back then. You can look at the Carl Long situation in two ways. NASCAR's way which I think is wrong or look at it like this. He did break the rules, but, let's make the punishment fit the crime. He was .017 oversize on a blown engine which he didn't drive in a race. A cigarette paper is .001. His engine was 17 cigarette papers too big.

The Old Man of NASCAR,

Lou Elliott

From Pops

My apologies to the treehuggers…sure Spotted Owls have as much right to live as we do...just not where there is oil to be drilled, they know to move on to another habitat but our fanatics think where they exist is their only habitat.. My home is located with the back of it to the State Forest and we co-habitat with every animal imaginable, but we don't have oil to be drilled here…yet !! LOL Pops

Here is a reply to Chip...this url below has a lot of info on the illegal engines caught over the years and also some history of how Bill France almost lost NASCAR back in the 60's when Chryslers 426 hemi was made illegal because Ford and GM didn't have anything that would run with it..for quite a few years. At that time engines had to be in production cars, Chrysler Corp was forced out of the sport after Petty won numerous races.  Petty went to Ford for a while and when he got a Pontiac contract he gave his cars to Wendell Scott.

 I remember the scandal surrounding Petty’s 200th win and he was allowed to keep the Trophy but seems to me they kept the purse over the oversized engine because that particular race was the first time a President of the US was in attendance. I was at that race and saw Petty win with the Pontiac with the front end torn off in a earlier crash.

Here is a bit of history on illegal engines...RCR and Junior Johnson were famous for theirs...LOL Anyone remember Dale Earnhardt Sr getting caught with the illegal collapsible trunk lid that gave his car more downforce? He too got caught and best I can remember no fines but told not to do it again!

This write up also entails how Tim Flock and my friend Curtis Turner were banned from NASCAR for life..Big Bill didn't like Unions, but had the UAW  got involved years ago that would have saved drivers and owners millions in contract costs and Big Bill wasn't about to have a office full of union attorneys!!

http://books.google.com/booksid=3nkglUQqn1wC&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=Illegal+Engines+in+NASCAR&source=bl&ots=vtJYwYp6CG&sig=X5zu0ljk3YKoAqV_8d64xe47YeI&hl=en&ei=pkotStvlJ6W_twe5pYTBCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9#PPA37,M1

From Julie

Momma,
Kyle Busch is embarrassing to the NASCAR fan community. He has no respect for anyone. That hand painted guitar could've been auctioned off for a charity and perhaps made a HUGE difference in someone's life. I do not believe he told his team they could all get a piece of it, after all, who wants a splintered piece of plastic/wood whatever it was made of?
I am appalled at his behavior and although he cannot and will not be punished by NASCAR, he needs to suffer for his incredibly stupid action.
Busch-hater

From Rachel

Hi Momma, since it isn't Jr, all I'll say is Go Tony...Go Tony.

Bits and Pieces

Changes at Petty include layoffs, salary reductions and Nationwide Series partnership

By Greg Engle, NDN Editor

Richard Petty Motorsports announced Monday it will partner with Braun Racing to compete in five Nationwide Series races in 2009.

The Petty team competed full-time in the series until this season when it chose to run a fourth Sprint Cup team. Team officials said the agreement with Braun Racing makes a successful return to the series more likely.

“We have a commitment to run five races this season,” said Mark McArdle, the Petty team’s vice president of competition. “Braun Racing is one of the most successful stand alone teams in the series that contends for race wins, week in and week out.  Partnering with them gives us an opportunity to be extremely competitive and to win races. It also brings the most value to our partners without disrupting anything we are doing with our Sprint Cup programs.”

Elliott Sadler will drive the car in the June 27 race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on ABC television while Kasey Kahne will race in the remaining four races.

“We believe that we have first-rate equipment and an extremely talented group here at Braun Racing,” said Braun.  “Adding the talents of Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne to our driver line-up is a win-win situation for us.  We’re very pleased that Richard Petty Motorsports approached us with this opportunity. It’s a good indicator that we have grown into a top-performing team and that it is not going unnoticed.”

Kahne, a seven-time winner in the series with Evernham Motorsports prior to the merger with Petty, looks forward to his four upcoming Nationwide Series races with Braun Racing.

“Our plan is to win these races,” said Kahne. “We’ve had a pretty good track record in the series and Braun Racing has run well this season. I think our sponsors will be pleased with how competitive this combination will be in these races.”

Sadler echoed his teammate’s comments.

“This should be a lot of fun,” said Sadler, a five-time winner in the series. “I’m looking forward to getting back in the Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Nationwide car. We have a chance to get a trophy.”

The Associated Press also reported Monday that RPM laid off nine employees and reduced salaries throughout the organization a direct results of Chrysler’s recent bankruptcy filing.

According to team co-owner Richard Petty, the bankruptcy filing has nearly stopped the flow of money the team got from Dodge.

There is some speculation that the team may make the switch from Dodge to Toyota next season. Braun Racing currently campaigns Toyota’s and there is no confirmation of what brand they will race with the RPM drivers.

Carpentier in the #55 for road course? UPDATE: hearing that Patrick Carpentier will drive the #55 NAPA Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing at the two road courses: Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen. UPDATE: Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) announced that Patrick Carpentier will drive the #55 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry in the upcoming Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. “There are so many great road course racers competing in Sonoma this year, and as the owner and driver of the #55 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, I am in a unique position,” said Waltrip who has two top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in his NASCAR Sprint Cup road racing career. “If I see where I can improve my car’s performance then that’s exactly what I am going to do. I am a good road racer, but Patrick is a great road racer. I love being an owner and I want to get another win for NAPA. It will feel just as good if I get the victory for NAPA or watching from the pit box with Patrick driving the car. I appreciate NAPA allowing me to make these kind of personnel moves when I feel it is best for the team.”
Carpentier, who has 27 Sprint Cup Series and 12 Nationwide Series starts to his credit is also driving for MWR and sponsor NAPA in the upcoming NASCAR Nationwide Series event, the NAPA Auto Parts 200, at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on Aug. 30. He’ll be behind the wheel of the #99 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota with veteran crew chief Jerry Baxter calling the shots.
“I couldn’t believe it when I was approached with this opportunity. I am honored,” said Carpentier. “For me to work with a guy like Michael Waltrip, who is a legend in NASCAR, is an amazing opportunity. I really like driving these cars on the road courses. We will work hard and get some good things going at Infineon Raceway. It’s my goal to get a good finish and plenty of points for the NAPA Auto Parts team.”(MWR)

The #7 “Rocks” in Michigan: The #7 Jim Beam Team of Robby Gordon will host Kid Rock along with featuring a special Red Stag by Jim Beam/ Kid Rock paint scheme for the upcoming LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway. This coincides with the recent announcement of Red Stag by Jim Beam’s partnership with multi-platinum superstar, Kid Rock, as a headline sponsor of Kid Rock’s 2009 Rock N’ Rebels Tour, which will hit 25 cities across North America this Summer. Kid Rock will kick off the Red Stag by Jim Beam partnership on June 14, when the Detroit native will serve as Grand Marshal of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LifeLock 400 race at Michigan International Speedway. Fifty cents from every ticket sold for Kid Rock's upcoming concert tour will be donated to Operation Homefront, a non-profit organization that provides assistance to America's military veterans returning home to their families. Through their support of Operation Homefront, Red Stag and Kid Rock will help fund emergency aid, moving assistance, computer programs and care packages in local chapters throughout the country. Red Stag, an all-new cherry-infused offspring of the world’s No. 1 selling bourbon is scheduled to launch in June and is the latest innovation from Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc.(RGM)
AND Robby Gordon Motorsports has a limited number of open races during the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season including the June 21, 2009 road course race in Sonoma, CA. More info at robbygordon.com for more sponsorship information.

Odyssey Batteries Named Technical Partner of RCR: Richard Childress Racing and EnerSys Energy Products Inc., through its line of Odyssey batteries, have reached agreement for Odyssey Battery to become a Technical Partner of Richard Childress Racing. The Odyssey batteries logo will be carried on the #07 Jack Daniel’s Chevy team with driver Casey Mears. Odyssey batteries are manufactured by EnerSys Energy Products, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of EnerSys. For more information about EnerSys and its Odyssey batteries at www.Odysseybattery.com. (RCR)

Truex Jr. to have GE Reveal as sponsor for two races: Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and GE Lighting announced that the GE Reveal Light Bulb brand will be the primary sponsor on the #1 Chevy of Martin Truex Jr. for races this weekend, June 14 at Michigan and the following race at Infineon Raceway on June 21st. The light bulbs bring Clean, Beautiful Light to any space. The #1 Chevy’s bright blue design draws inspiration from the blue coloring of an unlit GE Reveal light bulb. Race fans should be sure to look for the iconic GE script logo on the hood of the #1 Chevy along with the rainbow-hued logo of GE Reveal running down the car’s quarter panels. For more information, consumers may visit www.ge.com. (EGR)

Matt McLaughlin Mouth’s Off

Corps or Whores?

Matt McLaughlin · Frontstretch.com

I’m getting a little dizzy here. NASCAR normally moves forward with glacial process when it comes to rule changes that at times make evolution look hasty. They’ll hold study groups and meetings, generate a ton of internal memos, send up a few trial balloons in the garage while maintaining plausible deniability, and then finally issue an earth-shattering decision that, yes indeed, the lug studs on the Cup cars are going to be a few millimeters longer this year. If you look at the time that elapsed between Dale Earnhardt’s death at Daytona (which had been preceded the previous season by the deaths of Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin and Tony Roper) and the rules change that mandated the common sense rule to require head and neck restraints, you’ll get a good idea of how the system usually works. In fact, it was only the death of Blaise Alexander in that Charlotte ARCA race that finally forced NASCAR’s hand.

The speed with which the new side by side restart rules were adopted after fans expressed interest in the format after the All-Star race was stunning. The jungle drums are loud this week that NASCAR is going to implement new rules to reduce the horsepower in Cup cars sooner rather than later, trying to improve the quality of racing to woo back disenfranchised fans.

Then of course there’s this week’s stunning announcement that NASCAR is doing a dramatic about face and embracing Internet writers, or at least some portion of the Internet writers who report on the sport. NASCAR’s relationship, even with the mainstream media, outside the chosen ones, the NASCAR network partners, has always been a little prickly. You might recall Brian France sending Monte Dutton, one of the sport’s most popular, if controversial writers, a love note wishing him well in his new career though in fact Monte had expressed no interest in changing careers (other than this recent musical gig of his which came after the fact.) The implications of that note were pretty clear and meant as a warning shot to others in the sport.

My how the landscape has changed. In this economy several papers that were bastions of race reportage for decades suddenly released their beat writers who traveled race to race and replaced their columns with AP news releases. Some of those papers decided with the interest in Cup racing dwindling, they might as well run the scores from church league bowling tournaments in place of the former race coverage.

Most industries are struggling in this economy, but the newspaper industry has been driven to its knees by the twin blows of reduced advertising income and competition from the Internet. There’s an immediacy to the Internet that print papers can’t rival. If a major story breaks newspapers can’t report it until the next print edition, but the breaking story can appear on Internet in minutes. The best papers have adjusted to the new reality and built strong Internet sites of their own. The Detroit Free Press recently went mainly online in a struggle to survive. The face of the medium is changing and changing rapidly in a way it hasn’t since the dawn of television signaled the end of the radio soap operas and serials.

In the face of change NASCAR has announced they are forming the “NASCAR Citizen’s Journalist Media Corps.” Like I said Sunday, the name is so Orwellian that it send shivers up my spine. Those Internet scribes, the spiritual heirs of the lonely pamphleteers with their ink-stained hands, will be “embraced with open arms” and “given the very same access as the traditional media” according to NASCAR’s press release on the topic. NASCAR isn’t throwing open the gates to the Barbarians though. The decision on who is in and who is out is based on “professionalism, reporting, commentary and use of social networking tools.” (There was no mention if spelling and neatness also count.)

If I’m a cynic, it’s a cynicism based on experience and some battles lost. NASCAR initially reacted to Internet reporting on their sport with all the ardor of Fidel Castro embracing free enterprise. While NASCAR says the “Internet” is a “new” technology, it is in fact more than a decade old. I’ve been doing this gig for 13 years now in some form or another after convincing my boss at a small (and I mean miniscule) racing newspaper that we needed an Internet presence. His initial reaction can be summed up as “Hell, we aren’t making any money doing this anyway. Sure, let’s lose money in a new way.” Understand in that era the three “staff” members of the paper were sitting around in a two-room office next to a church where they handled snakes waiting to see if a check arrived in time to keep us in business.

The “Born On” date of the NASCAR Internet is generally considered to be 1996 when Jayski’s Silly Season page was born. A hard working, tech-savvy guy from the Jersey shore started his small webpage trying to figure out what was going on with Lake Speed. Jay is a friend of mine so I know he’ll be embarrassed when I say that Jay is to Internet NASCAR coverage what another resident of the Jersey shore who started out small, Bruce Springsteen, is to rock and roll.

Eventually Jay, working out of the bedroom in his folks’ home started including links to other articles on the Internet related to the sport on his page, including mine. I recall my boss getting giddy and falling out of his chair when he saw the hits on our obscure website growing by the hundreds an hour after struggling to draw one hundred readers a week. And so a new cottage industry was born.

The new industry wasn’t met with open arms, either by NASCAR or by our in-print brethren with their degrees in journalism in many instances. The first assault on the frontier outpost was the now infamous “Circle R” note we all got back in the day. NASCAR was insisting that if we were to use the name NASCAR we follow it with the circled R trademark that indicated those six letters were a registered trademark. The problem is even the lawyer who sent the letter couldn’t figure out what set of keys one had to use on a keyboard to make that circled R appear after the word NASCAR. (I knew it at one time and used it once a column as a sarcastic response to the edict but have long since forgotten it.)

Despite threats of lawsuits most of us just ignored the stupidity of it all. However most sites did include the required disclaimer that that particular site was not the official site of NASCAR on the Internet and readers should click on a link to go to NASCAR.com for the officially vetted propaganda of the day. I begged my boss at the time, Derek of Speedworld, not to include that burdensome verbiage. I wanted NASCAR to sue us. I had ACLU lawyers lined up to defend us pro bono. Eventually the battle ended with no causalities, though there was a lot of sniping from each side. Hell, I once ran the vanity plate “CRCLER” on my Thunderbird.

Then there was the whole Article Four boondoggle in which NASCAR said they owned rights to photos and reportage created at the track. That one was authored by Brian France himself back in the day. It too went over by a lead balloon with the NMPA (which only began admitting Internet writers this season) firing the fatal shots, but the Internet writers providing covering fire.

On a more personal note, I had that whole mess with R1 which I won’t recount here. It put me out of a job, but like a bad penny I keep coming back. I’ve made my peace with the fellow that pulled the trigger, but it still boggles my mind NASCAR’s sister company, the ISC, bought a website just to get me fired.

But let’s get back to the whole standards of admission to the NASCAR tree house more commonly known as the press box for Internet types; professionalism, reporting, commentary and use of social networking tools.

The difference between reporting and commentary should be pretty easy to understand. Reporting, as in recounts of the race, is reminding fans of what happened in the race they just watched. On this lap this happened and on that lap that happened and as a result Driver X won the race. Reporting also involves regurgitating in some semi-coherent fashion the press agents and car manufacturer’s press releases after the race as if you were sitting on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s lap as he offered up his latest bon-bons on how to lose a race. At its most extreme, it involves staying awake through the race winner’s post-race interview in the press box, offering platitudes to his sponsors and carefully, if quickly, crafted quotes prepared by his PR guy or gal.

Commentary is a different animal all together. It involves seeing trends through a thicket of trees to see the forest as a whole, adding your analysis of those trends and putting it into some sort of semi-coherent fashion based on your understanding of the sport in such a fashion it informs, entertains, amuses or alarms your readers. Done well, reporting or commentating is an asset to race fans, though as a commentator, I prefer the latter to the former.

“Use of social networking tools” is a bit harder for me to understand. It seems to mean that that NASCAR wants writers who text message or tweet their readers during races. I still don’t own a cell phone and have never text messaged or tweeted a single individual. I don’t have a Facebook page and I don’t know MySpace from outer space. I’m still getting used to this email thing.

It’s the “professionalism” requirement that truly worries me. Based on my experiences with NASCAR officials, “professionalism” equates to parroting the corporate line, or at least masking your dissent in such a way that it makes your output so bland it can be ignored or easily digested by the simple-minded. Any departure from the party line is seen as unprofessional. That’s the same sort of mindset the governments of the USSR, China, Cuba and North Korea have adopted.

To effectively wield a big stick, one must also offer a carrot. In this case what is being offered to the Internet media as a carrot is full and free access to the garage area, which is denied to most fans. But the stick is there as well. If NASCAR doesn’t like what you have to say after your time in the garage, you get the stick and the carrots get taken away. That’s the sort of threat that could turn some members of the media corps into whores.

I remember the first weekend I was headed to the track with full media credentials. I was practically giddy with excitement. I was finally going to get my peak behind the curtain. I was going to be in the press box. I was going to be handed a sheaf of press releases to let me know what the drivers thought after the race. And I was finally going to interview Dale Earnhardt (Senior not Junior) on why he was in an apparent slump. As I’d learn, no, Little Grasshopper, you’re not going to get ten minutes one on one with the Intimidator despite your press pass. He only talks to the big dogs and you are still a pup. If you’re lucky the nice Chevy PR lady will hand you an official press release of how he felt after the race and if you report it verbatim, perhaps one day you’ll get to ask Dale a question in a post race press conference.

Hell, even Robby Gordon, who was running so bad that nobody else wanted to talk to him, dissed me when I asked him a legitimate question while he was standing around doing nothing other than preparing to pack up and go home after failing to qualify at Dover. He wanted to know who I wrote for before giving me thirty seconds of his time. I told him I wrote for an Internet site and he told me that he had no time for Internet types. And it’s been game on ever since. Don’t pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel or who has unlimited bandwidth at his disposal.

On that ride to the first race (ironically I think it was at Rockingham), my boss Mike Calinoff tried to temper my enthusiasm. He told me something that was going to stick with me for life. He told me that the more access I got to the garage area, the more I learned about the people who ran the sport and the people who made up the sport, the less I was going to like it. You look behind the curtain and you risk learning that the wizards are only mortal men. I was naïve then, I never thought it could happen. It did.

So the chosen ones, the new member of the NASCAR’s Citizen Journalist Corps, I offer this advice, because though I’ve gotten a glimpse of the Promised Land, I won’t be crossing with you. Like Calinoff told me, once you have insider access you will like the sport less, not more. A merry-go-round laden with happy children is a beautiful thing to behold until you get into the inner-workings of the machine and see that it’s all ready to fall apart. You’re mileage may vary. Perhaps you’ll be able to dwell on the positive side, the drivers who take time out of their busy schedule to interact with Make-A-Wish kids over and above the call of duty, and stuff like that. There are a lot of genuinely good folks in the garage area. But when you see the warts, call a strike a strike and be honest in your opinions. The ultimate litmus test isn’t the NASCAR officials who dangle the carrot, but your hard won readers who expect honesty and can sniff out deceit like bloodhounds on the trail of a fugitive. Once you lose your credulity, the most precious gift you have as a writer, it’s like losing your virginity. You can never get it back.

There’s a joke I head a long time ago in the garage area. A rich man arrives at a local tavern and lays the keys to his Ferrari on the bar. He spies a beautiful woman at the bar and asks if she’ll sleep with him for a million dollars. “For a million bucks…well, yeah, I guess I will.” He asks her if she’ll sleep with him for a quarter and she’s offended. “What sort of girl do you think I am?” she huffs indignantly. “Ma’am,” he responds coolly, “We’ve already decided what sort of woman you are. Now we’re just negotiating over the price.”

Companies eye new tracks, car racing for marketing opps

Denver Business Journal - by Ed Sealover

NASCAR’s potential re-entrance into Colorado could bring with it not only millions of tourism revenue dollars, but also enormous marketing opportunities for companies willing to spend money to promote their products.

Putting a business’ name on the hoods or doors of Sprint Cup Series cars is becoming an increasingly popular investment, said Ron Schneider, president of Englewood-based Sport Dimensions, which links companies to racing associations.

The cost can run anywhere from $25 million to be the primary sponsor of a top-tier driver to $250,000 a year to slap a sticker elsewhere on a car and get access to the car’s professional driver for use in endorsements and personal appearances.

Sport Dimensions, which opened in 1995, said business rose nearly 30 percent from 2006 to 2008 before hitting the bump that’s affected most marketing companies this year, Schneider said.

Like many other racing marketing businesses around the country, Sport Dimensions is seeing both an increase in companies wanting to get into NASCAR and their willingness to spend more, he said.

And if either of two potential track projects in Colorado, which were announced in late May, are developed and can attract a major NASCAR race, that’s likely to create even more interest in the sport from Colorado companies, he predicted.

“I think the opportunity for these companies here in Colorado is great,” said Schneider, who represents mostly out-of-state clients. “There’s a lot of opportunities and ways to push their message out through NASCAR.”

Once considered a sport that appealed only to blue-collar Southern and Midwestern men, NASCAR has greatly expanded its appeal and marketing potential in recent years. Studies show it’s the top spectator sport in the country and No. 2 in television ratings behind the National Football League, and $2.9 billion in licensed NASCAR products are sold each year, Schneider noted.

And, more than any other sport, sponsors of a NASCAR team benefit from the popularity of their driver, said Todd Stonis, general manager for Sport Dimensions.

As many as 75 percent of surveyed fans have said they buy the products or services of their favorite driver’s sponsors. When popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. switched from Budweiser to Amp Energy drink as a primary sponsor last year, Amp jumped from sixth to third for national sales among energy drinks, Stonis said.

But marketing through NASCAR goes deeper than just putting a company’s name on a car and hoping people notice it, said Schneider and Stonis, whose company is the only one in Colorado to specialize in race-car marketing. It also means leveraging the driver to do ads for your company, make public appearances and give you access to him before and after races, a level of connection that sponsors don’t get with players in any team sport.

Johns Manville, the Denver-based roofing and insulation manufacturer, got involved with the Sprint Cup Series four years ago when a driver it had been sponsoring, Paul Menard, moved up to the top racing circuit. The company shares sponsorship of Menard’s car with nine others, and gets great exposure when its logo is displayed on the vehicle hood during about a dozen races a year, said Chris Gerd, retail marketing and motorsports marketing manager.

But Johns Manville also takes executives from major customers to the races and introduces them to Menard and his crew, a tremendous move in building customer appreciation, Gerd said. And it has Menard attend community functions the company holds with groups such as Habitat for Humanity or Special Olympics.

“It builds excitement, it builds a strong fan base and it really portrays Johns Manville in a positive light,” Gerd said of interaction with the driver. “If a track were to come here, it’s a great opportunity for us to actually build upon Johns Manville’s reputation in the community.”

A handful of other Colorado companies also are involved in the sport, including Furniture Row, which sponsors the only team based west of the Mississippi River. If potentially competing groups associated with the International Speedway Corp. or developer Bill Schuck were to build a track and attract a major race here, that could grow, Schneider said.

“It’s not a heavy focus right now,” he said. “I mean, we’re a stick-and-ball town here, and people know it. But I think people are interested and curious about it.”

Could Stewart Roll All The Way To Title?

By Jerry Bonkowski/autoracingdaily.com

I’m not quite ready to hand the Sprint Cup championship over to Tony Stewart just yet, but after his thrilling come-from-behind win Sunday at Pocono, I’m starting to think Jimmie Johnson’s chances for a record four consecutive championships may just have weakened significantly.

Stewart is the type of driver that once he gets on a roll – and that typically happens right around this time of year – he goes on one heck of a ride.

Remember 2005? After finishing runner-up at Michigan in mid-June, he went on the biggest tear of his Cup career, winning five of the next seven races, ultimately going on to win his second career Cup championship.

And then there was the following season, 2006. By a quirk of fate, Stewart fell short of qualifying for the Chase – and making a concerted effort to repeat his championship from the year before – by a mere 16 points.

So what did Stewart do when he failed to make the Chase? He went on to steal the thunder of the 10 drivers that made it by winning three of the 10 Chase races (and finishing runner-up and fourth in two other events).

Now we have this season to date. In the first 14 races, Stewart has one win, seven top-5 and 10 top-10 finishes. In fact, Stewart and his No. 14 Chevrolet have finished lower than third in just two of the last nine Cup races.

And teammate Ryan Newman, who struggled at the beginning of the season with his new team, has been on a tear of his own of late: of the five top-5 and eight top-10 finishes he’s earned in the first 14 races, all five of his top-5 finishes, plus a still-strong eighth-place finish, have come in the last six races.

I’ve been saying since Atlanta in March that Stewart was a win waiting to happen. Now that he has achieved that goal, Newman is the next win waiting to happen, in my mind.

Oh, and did I mention that Newman also has a tendency to get on a roll at times. Go back to the 2003 season: he won eight races overall, with six wins coming in the second half of the season.

I don’t know about you, but I’m really starting to wonder if both Joe Gibbs and Roger Penske, if they had it to do all over again, would have let Stewart and Newman go if they could have forecast the kind of season both drivers are having so far – and there’s still 22 races left for them to do oh, so much more!

Catch you Tuesday.

Tony Stewart: Rising Above a Checkered Past into this Fan's Heart

S.D. Grady/Frontstretch.com

It’s always interesting to watch several races in a weekend. Different cars, storylines and personalities combine to snag my attention for hours on end. Perhaps the greatest display of diverse action appeared in two separate Victory Lanes this weekend.

After Saturday’s Nationwide race, the stands at Nashville nearly fell down with the echoes of boos pouring down on Kyle Busch’s victorious head. First, he burned up his tires, quite literally! And then came the expected climbing out of his car on the frontstretch, the bow to the angry mob held back by the catch fence and the snaring of the checkered flag tossed from the flagstand. Nothing truly notable there, since the Shrub is currently riding a high in fan hatred. However, I don’t think anybody expected the smashing of the Gibson guitar into itty bitty bits. When the bits weren’t small enough, Kyle swung the trophy again into the cement.

After the past week, all I could say was, “wow.” The moment didn’t actually stir my anger — I seem to be past that. The rock star wannabe just met expectations.

Fast forward to Sunday. This time, I bit my nails watching Tony Stewart float through the final corners of the race. Was there enough gas? Yes? No? I really wanted Tony to win…

Mr. Stewart won, bringing his No. 14 Office Depot Chevrolet to Victory Lane for his first points win as a car owner-driver! He managed a rather snazzy burnout down the majority of the frontstretch — and at Pocono, that’s a WOW! Next, he simply pulled to Victory Lane. He hugged his Dad. He hugged his crew. He climbed from his car. There was the expected spraying of sports drinks and general feeling of bonhomie. Oh, and did I mention the thunderous cheers erupting from the stands? NASCAR Nation loved this.

Wasn’t that nice? And what is so notable about Tony Stewart simply being nice? Does anybody remember a time when Tony resembled M&M boy in temperament?

I do.

There’s nothing like driving with a chip on your shoulder the size of Texas to make a NASCAR fan sit up and take notice. With his arrival in the Cup series in 1999, Stewart was infamous for mouthing off to the media, pushing security members, punching emergency crews, trash talking about his fellow competitors and taking the powers that be to task for the smallest issues. In short, he excelled at being an ass.

During driver intros in his early years, Tony’s fans (the good and the bad) made just as much noise as the Jeff Gordon fans. The boos fought with the cheers. He rode around the track in the back of the pick-up trucks with a shit-eating grin, just begging for somebody to say something rude. And he won. And he won some more.

Then he grew up. There’s really no other explanation for it. The headlines stopped being about what he said or did, instead they just covered his ability to win. Maybe the anger management classes helped, or perhaps it was some savvy PR moves on behalf of Home Depot. But my heart softened towards the Hoosier at about the same time he started “fixing up his house” in TV ads and climbing fences in Indy.

Oh, Tony will still walk away from the reporters after a really bad day. He still has the ability to speak before self-censoring, and as proven on Sunday, he can still win.

Would I be as happy for Stewart this week without his checkered past? I doubt it. There are other “golden boys” in this sport who excel with nice haircuts, always pressed polos and pleasant talks with the media. They provide vanilla comments and generally unexciting drama from the cockpit of their cars. Even if they have my devotion, they fail to raise my pulse rate.

On the other hand, Tony’s past performances, on and off the track, provide a dramatic backdrop for his current success. From the ashes of youthful ignorance, rises a champion worthy of the NASCAR history books.

As I think back on the weekend, I am left wondering if one other candy-colored driver is capable of earning such accolades in the future. Wouldn’t it be something if he did?

Forever the optimist, I hope so. Until then, I’ll be cheering for the No. 14 and sending the silent treatment toward the No. 18.

Guitar-smashing Busch alienates fans

By Jenna Fryer - Associated Press

Kyle Busch has always bucked the system, embracing the notoriety that comes with being NASCAR's newest bad boy.

He doesn't care if race fans dislike him – and boy, do they ever – and he makes no apologies for knocking people out of his way en route to Victory Lane. His rejection of conformity is genuine, and Busch does everything he can to avoid being grouped as just another politically correct NASCAR driver shilling for a sponsor.

So if he's aware of the growing backlash surrounding his guitar-smashing celebration after a Nationwide Series win at Nashville, it's doubtful Busch even cares.

But this time, even his most ardent supporters wonder if Busch went too far.

See, it wasn't just any guitar that Busch whacked three times against the ground before tossing the chipped steel instrument aside. No, it was a revered Gibson Les Paul guitar that had been hand painted by longtime NASCAR artist Sam Bass and has become the symbol of Nashville Speedway.

Bass initially said he was stunned Saturday night to see Busch climb from his car, accept the trophy, then attempt to destroy it. But he had softened after speaking to Busch in Victory Lane, where the driver explained that Nashville had frustrated him for so long, he had promised his crew that if he ever claimed one of the coveted guitars, he'd smash it and share the pieces with the entire team.

On Monday, however, Bass told NASCAR Scene he was heartbroken to see Busch destroy the trophy.

“It was stunning, absolutely stunning to see that thing destroyed within seconds of him getting it,” Bass told Scene. “It's his trophy, he can choose to do with it what he wants. But I'm not going to lie about it. If he had asked me, ‘Hey, I'm thinking about destroying that trophy guitar whenever I win it, what do you think?' Of course I would have told him, ‘No! Please don't. Let us give you a prop guitar.“'

Busch's celebration was not meant to be disrespectful toward Bass, the speedway, sponsors or fans. Instead, it was sincere emotion from a driver who had flirted several times with victory at Nashville, only to come up empty in seven previous tries.

After finally breaking through for a dominating win, the smashing of the guitar was, in Busch's mind, nothing more than an exorcising of demons.

Only nobody else sees it that way.

“I've got a lot of respect for Sam Bass and those people at Gibson that make those beautiful trophies,” said three-time Nashville winner Carl Edwards. “You definitely will not see me smashing one of them.”

Brad Keselowski, either. So thrilled to earn one of the guitars last June, he carried it all over the garage during post-race inspection and then fell asleep cradling it during the plane ride home. His JR Motorsports team has the photos to prove it.

But the 24-year-old Busch doesn't think like that, and the big picture often escapes him. His antics used to be attributed to a lack of maturity, which ultimately cost him his job at Hendrick Motorsports two years ago this week.

After landing on his feet at Joe Gibbs Racing, he seemed to smooth his rough edges and settle into his own skin while rolling to 21 victories and leading the Sprint Cup Series standings for most of the regular season. But when his championship hopes crumbled in the opening Chase to the championship race, it became clear Busch is still a work in progress.

And there have been some rough patches this season, too. He embarrassed his crew by abandoning his car on the race track after they cost him a Nationwide win at Bristol, and after any sort of setback he's stormed out of tracks without commenting several times.

That edge is the essence of the Busch, and it's what makes him one of NASCAR's best drivers.

Without it, he maybe doesn't win as often or perhaps loses the hunger to race in every event he can find. With it, he offends people at every turn.

Belt-Tightening Is The New Racing Reality

By Larry Woody | Senior Writer | RacinToday.com 

Nashville – Bobby Hamilton Jr. says the tough economic times have forced some NASCAR teams to confront some belt-tightening reality.

“A lot of teams got fat and spoiled back when times were good, and now they’re having to learn to live within their means,” Hamilton said during last weekend’s race at Nashville Superspeedway.

“In the case of my team, we’re staying in cheaper hotels and cutting down on flying. If a race is eight hours or closer, we drive. We now fly only to races that are further away than that.”

Hamilton said cutting down on travel expenses and eliminating luxuries such as million-dollar motor homes can slice a Nationwide Series team’s expenses in half. He said a $5-6 million annual budget can be trimmed to less than $3 million.

“I think this year’s dose of cold reality woke up a lot of people in our sport,” Hamilton said. “We’re learning how to race on a tighter budget.”

After being sidelined for most of the season due to lack of sponsorship, Hamilton has found new life with a new team.

“It feels great to get back out there,” said the fourth-generation Nashville racer who last Saturday made his second start for MacDonald Motorsports. He finished 14th on his home track after being 15th the previous week at Dover.

“This is a good, solid team and I enjoy driving for them,” Hamilton said.

“Interestingly Hamilton is co-owner of the Rensi-Hamilton Racing Ford driven by Eric McClure. McClure landed the ride by bringing a sponsor with him.

“It seems a little odd to be racing against my own team,” Hamilton admitted, “but at least if Eric does well, then so does my team. Hopefully I’ll back (as driver) at some point.”

Hamilton said the sponsorship woes that sidelined him for the early portion of the season “are really frustrating, but I’m not the only one it’s happened to. It’s something our entire sport is going through right now.”

In addition to his co-ownership of Rensi-Hamilton Racing, Bobby Jr. also is owner of the team formerly known as Sadler Racing. After being a partner in the 40-year-old Nashville-based team, Hamilton bought out founder Earl Sadler. Over the past four decades Sadler had provided early-career rides to such drivers as Davey Allison, Michael Waltrip, Sterling Marlin and Jeremy Mayfield.

Hamilton said the team – now named Hamilton Racing – will concentrate on the ARCA series, with an eye toward a possible Nationwide expansion next year.

The championship-winning NASCAR truck team founded by Bobby Jr.’s late father – Bobby Hamilton Racing – folded last year due to sponsorship problems. The younger Hamilton said he felt no sadness or regret when it happened.

“I didn’t have anything to do with that team after my dad died,” he said. “It still carried his name but I wasn’t a part of it and as far as I was concerned it wasn’t his team any more.”

Is too much success bad for Stewart?

By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Not to throw the apple of discord into the middle of a lovefest, but Tony Stewart’s unqualified success as a new owner/driver may be the biggest threat to Tony Stewart’s unqualified success as a new owner/driver.

More on that shortly, but first, let’s make a distinction between owner/driver Tony Stewart and others who have preceded him. After Stewart’s victory in Sunday’s Pocono 500, the first statistic on the race notes sheet distributed by NASCAR read like this:

“This marks the first win in the (Sprint Cup) series by an owner/driver since Sept. 27, 1998 (Ricky Rudd, Martinsville Speedway).”

Stewart, however, is not an owner/driver in the same sense that Rudd or 1992 Cup champion Alan Kulwicki were. Rudd and Kulwicki built their respective successes with shoestring budgets and skeleton staffs. To his credit, Stewart has assembled a juggernaut.

To his credit, Stewart took the existing infrastructure at ne’er-do-well Haas CNC Racing and transformed it from an organization that had never won a race to one that has earned two trophies this year (the non-points Sprint All-Star Race and the Pocono 500) and has streaked to the top of the Cup standings.

To his credit, Stewart’s well-oiled, well-funded organization features handpicked, quality personnel in all key jobs, with lucrative sponsorship deals from Office Depot, Old Spice and the U.S. Army in place to make sure he meets the payroll.

To his credit, Stewart has capitalized–and then some–on the most valuable asset Haas CNC Racing brought to the table during negotiations that ultimately gave Stewart an ownership stake in newly formed Stewart-Haas Racing.

That asset? Haas CNC’s existing relationship with Hendrick Motorsports.

Stewart’s engines and chassis come from Hendrick, so in essence, he and teammate Ryan Newman are Hendrick customers driving Hendrick cars. For his crew chief, Stewart hired Darian Grubb, a brilliant engineer thoroughly versed in the Hendrick methodology–because he helped develop and refine it.

It was Grubb, you’ll recall, who won two of four races with Jimmie Johnson in 2006, subbing for suspended crew chief Chad Knaus. It was Grubb who made the fuel-mileage call that helped give then-Hendrick driver Casey Mears his only Cup win in the 2007 Coca-Cola 600.

You could hardly blame Johnson and Knaus if they’re at least a little annoyed that Stewart is a real threat to unseat them in their bid for a record four straight Cup championships. Nor can Jeff Gordon be totally happy that Stewart may jeopardize his chances for a fifth title in a career that may end prematurely if Gordon’s back troubles can’t be fixed.

Team owner Rick Hendrick clearly enjoys Stewart’s success. At the end of the season-opening Daytona 500, those scanning Stewart’s radio frequency heard Hendrick’s voice congratulating the two-time champion on his eighth-place finish. When Stewart won the All-Star Race in May, one of his first well-wishers was Hendrick.

Stewart is the consummate racer, and you can’t blame Hendrick for valuing the relationship, which helps the bottom line in a tough economy and enhances the prestige of the both organizations. But is the relationship with Stewart worth potential dissension within the Hendrick ranks?

“Under the right circumstances, it can be a great relationship because we can get more from them, they can utilize our resources better, and they can continue to stay a great customer,” Gordon said last year after the Stewart-Haas deal was announced. “When they start being competitive with us, that’s when we have to think about where they stand.”

And if they start winning too many races?

“They can win races–as long as we’re not finishing second to ‘em,” Gordon said. “Then we’ve got to renegotiate.”

Gordon’s reference is pointed, and it’s a history lesson for Stewart. Back in 1992, a startup operation called Joe Gibbs Racing leased engines from Hendrick Motorsports. The death knell for that vendor/customer relationship came in 1995 when Bobby Labonte won three races for Gibbs (once at Charlotte and twice at Michigan).

Hendrick drivers finished second in all three races, and Gibbs soon found himself in the position of having to start his own engine program.

For now, Stewart can enjoy his success.

“It’s been a honeymoon to this point,” he said. “We haven’t had to go through the lows yet. … We will get a dose of reality at some point in this equation. Every race team does. It’s been a honeymoon where I don’t have to worry about giving half back right now, so I’m going to enjoy it as long as we can.”

For Stewart’s sake, however, it might be beneficial to hit a few speed bumps sooner rather than later. Otherwise, the honeymoon might well become the best, brief part of the marriage.

By Seth Livingstone, USA TODAY

Roger Penske, known for his successful racing teams, in addition to being the nation's second-largest auto dealer, has struck a tentative deal to buy the Saturn brand from General Motors. USA TODAY spoke with Penske on Sunday at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.

Q: What's the next step in your acquisition of Saturn?

A: The next step is to close the transaction, which we hope to do at the end of the third quarter. We'll be dealing with GM on future product. Then we have the opportunity to source product from around the world as we go into future years. First, we're putting an organization together and closing the transaction. The great news is that we have 350 dealerships that will be alive and well and will not have to be shut down. I think that's a real by-product of this. For me personally, I know many of these dealers myself and they're some of the very best. So, I think we've got a great opportunity. I thank General Motors (for) supporting us, and obviously the government that wanted to see this happen.

Q: This seems to be a massive undertaking. Why do it?

A: My heart, my soul is in the automobile business. I started as a Chevrolet dealer in West Philadelphia in February 1965. So, I've seen lots of things happen in the industry. This opportunity, for me, is once in a lifetime. I think the fact that our organization completed a very good transaction with General Motors in 1988 when we bought Detroit Diesel… it was a success that gave us an entree to be able to do this with GM. So we're really a partnership.

Q: Where are you now with Dodge, your current NASCAR factory sponsor?

A: We're in great shape with Dodge. We have three more years to go on our contract. They have been upfront with us. We expect to continue in NASCAR with Dodge. As I saw Chevrolet's Ed Peper (general manager of GM's Chevrolet division) the other day say, (racing is part of their ) DNA (with respect to) their marketing area. I think that Dodge feels the same way and certainly does Ford. So I think the Big 3 will be stronger at the end of this process, and motorsports is part of the company culture in the U.S. The Big 3, NASCAR, IndyCar racing — these things are awfully important to the consumer. The technology that's generated out of these types of races will be good today and good in the future. I'm very positive. I live in Detroit so I'm passionate about seeing things in Detroit turning around.

Q: Do you envision Saturn becoming involved in racing down the line?

A: As you dream at night about things you'd like to do, you'd say, 'Jeez, I'd love to see Saturn product involved.' But if you have 100 things to do, that's certainly not in the top 50.

Q: Will the impact of Saturn affect your racing or business endeavors?

A: Obviously, it takes time and effort to commit to this type of thing. But what it does, it gives our organization a chance to put together a first-class Saturn team. Jill Lajdziak is the general manager today. She's been very helpful in this process, and I hope she takes a leadership role. So, it's a chance to take a group of people because of the problems that GM's been facing over the last several years (and) it's a new life for them. We partner with GM. We get the best assets and the best support from Fritz Henderson (GM president and CEO) and from his team (including) Mark LaNeve (GM's North America vice president of sales and marketing) and we get to go forward and try to be successful.

I want to say this: There is risk associated with these types of things. I don't want anyone to think this is a walk in the park. This is a serious business. This is a serious opportunity for us. But more importantly as I think about what's going on today in the world, in the U.S. and especially in Detroit, 13,000 jobs will be saved (along with) 350 dealerships and a great brand — an iconic brand that has been developed by General Motors over the years. We don't lose that. We start with a tremendous foundation of product, of people and, more important, we have 3.5 million consumers that are driving Saturn vehicles today. If you came in from the outside as a manufacturer from anywhere in the world, you wouldn't have that base.

Q: With all you have going on, are you afraid you might be spreading yourself thin?

A: Well, I would say this: People work hard. I work hard. The key thing about our organization is we've got great people, and the great thing about Saturn is that inside the organization we're going to develop a key team. So it isn't like we're starting from a green field. We have people that know the brand, know the network, and many of these retailers I already know.

Q: The question everyone seems to have: How will Saturn supply its dealers down the road?

A: We have a couple years of supply from GM, and one of the first jobs for us will be to find out who will be a partner for us. But the great thing is we get to look on a worldwide basis to people who have the best product that we can compete with in the U.S. Then the goal will be, obviously, to have the volume so that it's viable to come in and manufacture the product in the U.S. So step one: Take GM product. That saves jobs in the plant. It gives them the opportunity to (make) more cars to cover their fixed and variable costs because Saturn will be taking (on) those. Then we take a look at who's out there that wants to enter the United States and we give them a great base of dealerships, a customer base and hopefully a good management team. And after that, we have the opportunity to manufacture cars here with the particular partner we would choose in the near-term.

Q: Saving 13,000 jobs. Do you see yourself as a savior or hero, at least to these people?

A: This is like a race. They've thrown the green flag. There's a long way until we get to the finish. This will not just be me. My name's on the door (but) it's all the people that work for us. I'm passionate about the U.S. My life has changed since I became an automobile dealer. GM gave me a chance over 40 years ago. To me, this is an opportunity to do something for the country, but, more importantly for all the people that work at Saturn and all the other people that are in the auto business, because there are suppliers, dealership employees (at stake). We love teamwork and that's what we're going to do. We're going to build a Saturn team.

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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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