The Shootout!

The 2010 Bud Shootout!!!

Well it was everything they said it would be! Kinda, the finish under green thing is still up in the air. And I would of liked to see a few more laps.

First things first though, who hung the Mark “the kid” Martin thing on Martin? Dumb dumb dumb… ANYWAY…….

Jeff Burton in the 31 CAT car out of the garages of Richard Childress Racing, http://rcrracing.com/ looked very very strong in the early stages then seemed to loose the handle a bit.

The #9 Ford (thank you God) of Kasey Kahne looked very strong driving from a 19^th starting spot up thru the field, pretty fast. The car of Tony Stewart looked dicey as well. Then Lagano punts Mikey Waltrip, and one thing I found strange, they looked at the same 2 camera shots like 10 or 11 times but never from the in-car on the 51 car, til right as they went to commercial, then you clearly see in the tape that the 51 got hit pretty hard just before he spun. Now the announcers didn’t see it that way they kept saying “he just looped it” or “the 20 car didn’t touch him” but they never replayed the in-car from Mikey’s car….hummm wonder why?

At the end of the first segment it was the Ford of Carl Edwards the 99 car out front, he had lead all 25 laps. When they come back out it looked like some were surely holding back, the 9 car showing some muscle at times and sliding back at times, but the ordeal with Martin and Kurt Busch was just racing it seems, Mark Martin did stand up and admit he was wrong it was his fault…… that is all good and everything but if you start to do it to often it will get old fast. Now if you fast forward to the 24 and 16 crash, well there again the announcers fell off their stools, DW was screaming that Biffle had a cut tire Before the 24 hit him…. um yeah right DW sure if you say so, Jeff Gordon punted the 16 of Biffle, was it intentional? I don’t think so..was it Jeff’s fault? Yeah he hit him getting in the corner….and the fact it killed 3 of the Rousch cars…. oh well racing is racing…. it was the shoot out..

But now back to the race Kevin Harvick was running very good late with a new car and him not having any seat time in this car. He crossed the line with the 9 car hot on his heels…..I like Kasey’s response, “having that Rousch Yates power sure made the difference, that is nice!”

As I see it his year may shape up to be a good one, seems the fords are running pretty good. But that was the FR( motor which will not be under the hoods for the 500 all the Ford teams seem to be wanting to go back to the old motor for durability, we will see I bet you there will be a couple teams run the new motor…. we will see….

How about the Wood Brothers with a basically part time team turning lose a 4^th place Qualifying run with Bill Elliott at the wheel….nice to see the old teams run good, now if we can just keep him up front!

The dr’s prediction for this year….. it is gonna be good!!

Cars to watch at Daytona……

the RCR cars all of them….

HMS cars

and the upstarts like the RPM with a new engine program

Stewart/Haas HMS power…

Good luck in all the Fantasy leagues out there an thanks for some of the invites I can only handle a couple and I am already in them…

cya@theraces

the dr.

Danica gets an “A”

Danica gets an “A” from the dr.

I exchanged text messages with a friend yesterday while I was at work and could not see a TV< anyway, we were going back and forth about Danica, and another friend sent a text that he predicted a top 5 for Danica, and as I was going to respond my battery died. This left me to think for myself for a while, and I thought back to my story on Danica being allowed to race, (
you can see it here http://topofthebox.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/danica-in-nascar/ ) at the end of that story I said “Danica may be the biggest flop in the history of NASCAR but until she takes to the track and runs a lap under green in a race no one knows, so why not wait and see, and THEN we will bash if needed. But until then I think we should give her the benefit of the doubt. “

Well after watching her wheel that car across the infield grass and save it, I now have new found respect for this young lady. And watching her drive and soak up the things around her, asking questions that made sense, one’s that everyone could understand. She became the NASCAR darling yesterday and she has yet to wheel a NASCAR car. But that is OK, yesterday she proved, yeah I said PROVED that she can drive, no she don’t know everything yet, but she knows she is a work in progress, and she has the bare talent, and she showed it yesterday when with less than 15 laps to go Tony Jr. turned her loose and said “ go on, run up there and get em” after she had got nailed by Nelson “moving accident” Piquet Jr.. she stayed on the lead lap and then drove, yeah she DROVE back to the front. And finished 6^th. You know the old saying” if I would have had …just 5 more laps” well she would of caught the leader, now could she have3 passed him? Well that is another story but think she would of liked to try it.

Seems that when the race was over and they switched back to the guys in the truck or where ever they were hiding Kyle Petty, and he was real quick to dismiss the ARCA race, and want to talk NASCAR he did not want to admit Danica showed him the talent he said she didn’t have!

I also want to mention Alli Owens she showed that she could get it done to, running 3^rd for a long time before getting shuffled to the back,

Some of you know the dr. takes very detailed notes during the race with a legal pad and pen, well the one note I kept writing yesterday during the ARCA race was “ she is learning very well” and “nice save” both were used a lot. I just want everyone to look back to the story I done on Danica and see … was the dr right or was he wrong????

Now I got to get busy on my shootout story!!

CYA@THE RACES

the dr.

Lady Luck?

I have toyed for a long time with the idea of doing a story on superstitions in racing but it never seemed like the right time but I guess now is the time, I have scoured the internet and found a ton of stuff on race car drivers and crew I am going to share with you, but if you have some of your own racing related I would love to hear about them, email them to me at drflavio309@yahoo.com

For years drivers have been so wary of things like $50.00 bills, the color green, peanuts in the pits, most drivers have a few, even if they are like Ron Hornaday who says he has so many he will not mention them for fear that another driver will get wind of them and try to use them against him. He does have one he got from his former boss and NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. Ron says “ “My biggest one, and I learned it from Earnhardt, is when you walk into a building — I don’t care where you walk into it — you leave through the same door you came in,” Hornaday said. “I don’t know why, but I always done that since I raced for Dale and that’s been 15 years. You can see me walk into a building, walk all around the building until I get to the door I walked in, so I can walk out.” the real reason why drivers are superstitious, it gives them something to blame other than themselves when something goes wrong.”

NASCAR don’t help matters any with the number 13 since they list pit stall # 13 as 12a….

Take the little paper cut out that kids today send around the world, “flat stanley” NASCAR driver Elliott Sadler is bad afraid of them, even when he was sponsored by Stanley he refused to have his picture taken with one of the little “paper cut out dudes” as he put it. “Every time I’ve ever taken a picture with a ‘Flat Stanley’ I’ve never made it more than half the race, something happens.” said Sadler.

Davey Allison was guilty of a few, If he watched a movie on Friday night and won the race on Sunday, he would go to the same movie until he didn’t win.

After a win Davy also wouldn’t shave until he didn’t win. If Davy won three or four in a row, he’d have a heck of a beard, so now you know why he was often seen sporting a beard!.

Joe Weatherly, who was deathly afraid of the number 13, was in position 13 at Bristol’s 1962 Volunteer 500. He successfully convinced the race officials to change his position to “12A” rather than 13. Once Weatherly had made a handshake agreement with Track President Bob Colvin that he would race in the Southern 500 in Darlington, South Carolina .

1962.However, the Southern 500 began in 1950.

So 1962 would be the…yep, you guessed it, the 13th Annual Southern 500.

Weatherly refused to honor his agreement, because he was NOT going to be racing in a race titled 13th!They seemed to be at an impasse before an ingenious, if bizarre, solution was found.The 1962 Southern 500 was titled “The 12th Renewal of the Southern 500.”Weatherly raced, and while he did not win the race, he helped add to his overall points total that saw him become the 1962 NASCAR Champion. He would repeat as champion in 1963.

The next year, however, Weatherly died in an accident in a race at the Riverside International Raceway. But get this, At the time, he had just been repaid a $100 loan he had given to his friend, so he had two $50 bills in his back pocket. For years, then, drivers shied away from $50 bills. Sterlin Marlin refuses to touch a $50.00 “I won’t touch a $50 bill,” Marlin said. “I’ll make you get change first. I hate them, won’t touch them. Peanuts, they don’t bother me. Green cars, I don’t have a problem with that, either.

As for the $50 bills, Marlin wasn’t the only one who avoided them. The late Dale Earnhardt also refused to use them. Car owners Eddie Wood and Richard Childress say they hate them, too.

Rusty Wallace is terrified of coins that land tails-up. “When we were loading up [son] Steve’s car for the ARCA race and one of the guys dropped all his change on the ground, I checked every coin to make sure they landed heads-up,” Wallace said. “During the race [last Saturday], Steve blew a tire and wrecked. The first thing that went through my mind was we missed one of the coins. One must have landed on tails.”

Marlin had a routine of eating a bologna sandwich before each race when he won his races at Daytona. He hasn’t missed a bologna sandwich before any of his 711 career starts.

Tim Richmond once refused to drive a car sponsored by Folger’s decaffeinated coffee because the primary color was green. He wound up in the Folger’s regular coffee car – and its red scheme.

Robert Yates, the team owner once was upset about a slump. He went into the break room and threw away all the peanuts in the snack machine.

“We won the next race,” Doug Yates said. “True story. And we haven’t had peanuts in our shop again.”

“We don’t allow peanuts in the shell at our shop,” co-owner Doug Yates said. “We hate them. They’re unlucky. If my wife buys peanuts like that, I throw them out. It’s just like the No. 13. If I wake up and the clock is on 13, I go back to sleep. There are some things you just don’t do.”

Some drivers are not bother by these omens, a driver who I learned 90% of what I know from, Walt Kennedy (I also named my daughter after him) said the only thing bad about peanuts in the pits was if you didn’t bring enough for him.

Veteran NASCAR driver Robert Pressley always makes sure he has a banana sandwich before the race starts.

David green says”This one may be a little weird,” he said, smiling, “but before a race when I run in to go to the bathroom, I’ll always use the urinal on the far left. That’s pole position. If somebody’s already there … I’ll just wait.”
And it isn’t just NASCAR drivers, F-1 drivers have their own, Michael Schumacher refuses to race cars with even numbers, Schumacher is one of many drivers who make it a ritual to get into their cars the same way each time. For Schumacher the left side is the “lucky” side. He even goes so far as to make certain it is his right foot that he puts into the car first.

Former NHRA drag racer Joe Amato would wear the same SNOOPY socks for each race. There are tons of them all over the place and these are just a few.

Funny how things work, I think it can be summed up like this, by believing in these omens, drivers have something to blame a bad night on……..

Now, bring on some real racing!!!

Cya@theraces

the dr.

NASCAR is Back!!!

NASCAR is back!!!

NASCAR gave us a little racing last night to get us warmed up for the new,coming season, with the Toyota Showdown last night from Irwindale Calif. Joey Logano got his second NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown trophy and Sergio Pena sure showed that some youngsters have the tallent if they are given the right stuff. . It was Pena’s first career race in NASCAR’s top developmental series and boy did he make a statement! ” Logano won as a 17-year-old rookie in the 2007 edition; Pena, who only has one year of Late Model racing on his resume, nearly out-did that. Logano wound up leading a race-high 171 laps. Pena led the other 54 and they swapped the lead five times. Following Logano, Pena and Kobyluck across the line was Matt DiBenedetto and Andrew Myers. Eric Holmes, David Mayhew, Eddie MacDonald, Paulie Harraka and Steve Park rounded out the top 10. K&N Pro Series East 2009 titlist Ryan Truex was relegated to 26th after a crash that he was quick to plame on soneone else, when it was his cutting move to the bottom of the track that caused the crash, he needs to learn to shut up and look at the tape before he spouts off at the mouth, just a word of advice from the dr,…. free of charge.

But this kid Sergio Pena, who is in the 11^th grade sure made n impression on the dr., with his clean racing and his aggressive style. He never once laid on Lagano and kept charging to the front to show he was not going to lay down. He did make a few rookie mistakes on restarts, with lagano taking him to school on the restarts.

Pena looks to be a very talented driver at a young age he has won a lot of racing up until this point including six wins at the Shenandoah Speedway in Virginia. Pena is from Winchester Virginia Pena who sat on the pole for the Showdown recently said he was a JPM fan,”I followed Juan Pablo Montoya growing up. He actually lived with my dad when he was just a kid. I followed him from IRL to Formula One and now Nascar. He’s given me some tips and definitely taught me a lot,” Sergio Pena said. Now we know……

Pena is under the watchful eye of Max Segal who left Earnhart Racing to form Revolution Racing http://revolutionracing.net/rr/ to help promote NASCAR’s race for diversity program. I have to say I see good things for this kid. With the show he put on last night, he will go far, if he keeps his nose clean and finishes school!

cya@theraces

the dr.

Danica in NASCAR…..

Ok I was going to leave this one alone and just let the chips fall where they may….. BUT….. Kyle Petty has changed my mind, not about Danica Patrick but about leaving this alone. His remarks at the recent Sound and Speed event which gets singers and race car drivers together for who knows what, were kind of brash coming from a driver who has the bloodlines of a Champion but the performance of a nag. Kyle said that Danica was a “marketing machine” well yeah, that is common knowledge and no one is doubting that, but she is also a race car driver, no she has not won a championship, nor has she won a ton of races at a top level, but neither had Kyle when he started, his daddy put him in a cup car in an ARCA race and he won, wow what an accomplishment……that is really getting it done. Kyle was one of the first drivers who took a ride on his daddy’s coattail, and floundered. Now Kyle said that Danica was “ Patrick is stepping into a situation with a car that has won races. If she gets in that car and doesn’t win races it’s not the car, it’s not the engines, it’s not the team. They only changed one thing.” well he is right about one thing, the car has won races … as the rules stood last year, your comparing apples to oranges to compare one year of a car to the next year of a car. And to say well the car has won she should, well Kyle stepped into a few cars that had won and he couldn’t get it done so is he speaking from experience?

Now don’t take this as the dr is defending Danica and jumping on the Danica bandwagon, I am not, BUT I believe that if you come into NASCAR and do it the right way why shouldn’t she ? She is not jumping straight into a cup car, like a few others have, she is doing what Penske called the old ABC program, some ARCA races , some Busch(now nationwide) and then some cup. Which is the right way.

But the real thing that really got to me was when Kyle said”But if she’s not successful the only impact she’ll have on the sport is she wasted two or three years on a car that a good driver could have been in and could have been developing.”!!! now boy ain’t that like the pot calling the kettle black! How many years was Kyle taking up a seat that a good up and coming driver could have had? How long did he prolong his career when he should of stepped down and put a decent driver in the car? Kyle never had a bit of talent, and I am sure King Richard was swearing under his breath ever time Kyle’s name was mentioned because he tarnished the name of Petty.

Now let’s look at what Danica has done so far, she was 12^th out of 26 drivers on the first time in the car at Daytona, hummm has Kyle ever run in the top 12? this is her FIRST time in the car! Tony Eury Jr the same guy who sat on the box for Dale Jr said “”She’s doing really good,” said Eury. “Drafting is not something that you learn overnight. She has done really good learning how to stay in a pack, learning what the car does in different aero situations. We’re pretty pleased. I think I need a little more speed in the car just in single car runs. Overall, it has been a good successful day. We’ll come back here tomorrow and let her draft a little bit more and I think we will be game on.” Now keep in mind Eury Jr is not just a hired gun now he has a vested interest in this team as part owner.

On the final day of practice she and her team not only did on-track testing but also participated in pit road practice. She was 10th fastest in the No. 88A Chevrolet in the morning session with a lap of 180.238 and 19th fastest in the No. 88 Chevrolet with a speed of 179.197. In the afternoon session, she turned a total of 92 laps and posted a top speed of 182.082 mph, good enough for fifth best on the speed charts. Now that ain’t bad for the first test session she has ever been too.

Sprint Cup veteran Carl Edwards was hesitant at first, but thinks it’s a good thing for the sport bringing Patrick onboard.“Honestly, at first I thought there’s no way,” Edwards said. “Then I heard just (Friday) my buddy was telling me at testing that she was really, really fast. You never know. What I’ve been saying from the beginning is for her to be successful over here would be a huge benefit not only for her and her sponsors, but for our whole sport, so it’d be great.

“I hope she does well, but not better than me. It’s going to be tough just like it is for everyone.”

Her new car owner Dale Jr. said ““I’m going into it with an open mind. It’s going to be an uphill battle for her,” said the veteran Cup driver. “But I think she can. She’s a race car driver. She should be able to adapt and do whatever she needs to do. We’re real happy with what we’ve seen and we love her attitude. I don’t know how she’ll do, I really don’t.”

I know Kyle has lot’s of people listening to him because he is the son of the king but he needs to shut his mouth and wait and see before he starts bashing.

Danica may be the biggest flop in the history of NASCAR but until she takes to the track and runs a lap under green in a race no one knows, so why not wait and see, and THEN we will bash if needed. But until then I think we should give her the benefit of the doubt.

CYA@THERACES

the dr.

What is wrong with NASCAR???

“Over five years in design the NASCAR Car Of Tomorrow was designed from the ground up to be safer, more competitive and cheaper for the race teams. NASCAR has spent extensive time on the drawing board, computer simulations, in the wind tunnel and on the track to design the ideal NASCAR Sprint Cup race car for the future.”

But has it worked? Has it cut the cost of racing for the teams? Has it improved the racing? No to both questions and it is time for NASCAR to look at what it has done to the sport ……. yeah they screwed it up.

Look at how the races have come along, now when the leader gets out front he has “clean air” and he simply pulls away, this is how the C.O.T. Drives, it gives the leader an advantage and this is bad for racing, the other teams and cars can’t catch up so how does this improve racing? Thats just it…….. it don’t. From the start the teams have fought with a tight condition, the car just will not turn in the corners and NASCAR guru’s think this is the magic that NASCAR needs? What are they smoking? It must be good if they really believe this.

NASCAR has been looking at different spoilers to help cut down on the cars flying at the super speedways but they really need to look at getting the cars to race!!!! yeah now don’t get me wrong safety is very important and it should be right at the top of the list, but it should not be the only thing that they are looking at. There are lot’s of things that could be looked at, like 9:1 compression motors, and go back to the stock bodies, they got to get rid of this cookie cutter crap they are running now. NASCAR needs to improve the racing and bring the fans back, in order to do that they will need to listen to what the fans want. What is it that puts butts in the seat? Is it wonderful promotions? No is it good food at the concession stand? Hell no! It is racing! Give the fans racing! That is what they want. How long is it going to take the higher ups at NASCAR to see this? First thing they will have to do is stop looking at the $$$$ they need to look at where that $$$ comes from, the back pockets of the fans! How hard is that to see?

Look at the history of NASCAR…. it started out as a sport full of whiskey runners who would put on a show of racing, then it started catching on, and more and more people started watching it, TV got in the picture, and before long the Networks were televising races live! Just like a football game, and the throngs of fans filled the seat, the sport grew and grew, then along came Brian France….. and the bottom fell out. He started trying to capitalize on the $$$$$ and forgot about putting on a good show of racing, side by side knuckles up racing. Before long the sport was in disarray and ratings were dropping, and NASCAR couldn’t see why…. ok since NASCAr can’t see it for themselves, I will make it easy for them……. GET RID OF Brian France and his whacked way of doing things. And while your throwing him out … box up the C.O.T. And send it with him.

Now that I have vented I feel much better …. NASCAR are you listening???

CYA@THERACES

the dr.

I am back!!!!!

Well the dr is back!!!!! and the news that is floating around is not really exciting.. let’s see what we got…..

first Front Row Motorsports is switching to Fords

Roush/Fenway is wanting the 6 car to be in the shoot out, they are trying to land Bill Elliott as driver since Ragan isn’t eligible, its up to UPS now if this happens bill already said he would.

Jimmie “uni-brow” Johnson is expecting a baby with his wife….well his wife is not him…..lol take that for what it is worth.

Super “K” Kenny Schrader is going to be driving the 82 Red Bull Car in the shootout in place of Scott Speed who isn’t eligible.

Seems lots of teams are trying to get the cars in the shootout even if the regular driver can’t … not sure I like this.

One thing I do like is the fact that Jeff Gluck who knows nothing about NASCAR is out of a job, he was let go at staff meeting of NASCAR Scene which is going belly up.

Robby Gordon has won stage 4 of the Dakar Rally in Chile wow, he can drive something…

So this is about all of the news worth reporting on today, I have a few things I have been working on and hope to get them too you soon.

I want to say it is good to be back and have things back to normal and i look forward to starting the year off with a bang! So spread the word to all your racing fans that they should be reading “top of the Box” and send them the link!!

thanks and

cya@theraces!!!!!!

the dr.

Just to let you know……

been having a few issues with the internet and I hope to have these resolved soon when i do I will be back in full force!!!

thanks for checking in on me, should you need to contact me do so at

drflavio309@yahoo.com

thanks

the dr.,

Nationwide fiasco…

Watching the Nationwide Series race today it was sort of funny in how the 88 car of Brad Kezoleski and the 20 Car of Denny “Howdy Doody” Hamlin found each other.

On the last restart, the 20 car runs in and hammers the 88 car in the left rear getting in the corner, well, then the 88 come roaring back to return the favor, the 20 didn’t recover as good as the 88 did and spun. What got me though was the announcers were going on and on about how the 88 car was wrong and the 20 did nothing wrong, watching replay after replay of the turn where the 88 got into the 20, then after a few minutes the crew in the truck showed the contact that started it with the 20 getting into the 88 then they started back stepping.

It was funny to watch, they really need to get some decent announcers, I could be available if needed to fill in but it would not be able to conflict with my radio show …man, I sure miss Benny Parsons……..

Although after the race Kez admited he was returning the favor he said “it has been over as far as I am concerned but it’s not with him(Hamlin)” It seems that Hamlin had a different view, he laughed when told that Kez said that he (hamlin) started it on the restart, he siad “ I could sit here and give you 20 seconds of sound bites but I am just going to wait ,I am glad I signed up to race next weekend at homestead I will deal with it then, there are lots of guys who owe him and I am going to be the first one at the pay window to collect from him” Now that is a direct threat as I see it and this is the sort of thing that needs to be dealt with before they get to the track if not this coming race could be a crash fest and someone could get hurt.

 

Carl Edward sure had a rocket today and Kyle Busch who spun all by himself could not find his way, by his own admission, he said” I am so lost out here” .Seems kind of hard to do on an oval….. but it is Kyle Busch.

Carl went on to win the race and lead the most laps, but now it seems that all Kyle Busch has to do is show up and start the race and he clinches the title.

I hate to say it but A tip of the dr’s hat to the 18 car he has been really stong all year and he deserves the title after the year he has had. (now will my jinx work??)

Ok lets get ready for the race tomorrow, and hope that somehow Johnson don’t have a good finish.

CYA@theraces.

The dr.

NASCAR and it’s worthless penalties.

NASCAR and it’s penalties…..

 

Who ever comes up with these punishments should be horse whipped! Points and money, what kind of garbage is this? The teams could care less about money almost all of them (except Carl Long) have tons of money, so its almost laughable to fine them, now the points is a little different but not much, yeah it “may” affect year end standings but if they get away with the infraction for a few races then it pays for itself. NASCAR needs to get on the stick and start taking positions away, win a race, and get caught with an infraction then you loose the win, finish 14^th and have a infraction, then they drop you 10 spots to 24^th. When they start hitting these teams like that then it may become a deterrent.

NASCAR has penalized Nationwide Series points leader Kyle Busch 25 driver points and his team 25 owner points for improperly attached weight discovered during opening-day inspection for last weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Now if they want to get these teams in line nail Busch for the win. Until they start taking wins and positions they will get teams pushing the boundries until they they get caught, it is only natural.

NASCAR announced penalties for the car No. 1 team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for a violation that occurred during post-race inspection last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. The team was penalized for violating Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-I (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-12.8.1B (front of the car did not meet the required height specification; too low in post-race inspection). Crew chief Kevin Manion was fined $50,000 and remains on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31, 2009. Car owner Teresa Earnhardt and driver Martin Truex Jr., were penalized with the loss of 50 championship owner and 50 championship driver points, respectively.

NASCAR has way to many lawyers writing these rule books. But until NASCAR gets rid of little Brian France it will remain this way….

The dr.

Cya@theraces.